


Parking Problems

by wangcrusher



Category: Day6 (Band), K-pop
Genre: Day6 - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Funny, Long, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 23:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7866352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wangcrusher/pseuds/wangcrusher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You screamed at him in the parking lot. At least you won't ever have to see him again....right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Fiddling with the shredded straw wrapper bits you checked your phone again. “Come on, old man. I don’t have all day…” you mumbled quietly. _Well, I guess I do but that doesn’t mean I wanna spend it here._  Eyes lifting from the table you searched the crowds. Nope. Don’t see him. Then again this is the biggest mall in the States so you’d be amazed if you were able to pick out your father’s figure in the massive crowds teeming throughout the food court. He was late. I mean, he’s always late but he’s especially late today. Cleaning up the shredded paper bits you got up and headed towards the nearest exit to the parking garage. As soon as you pushed your way through the doors the winter chill had you pulling your jacket tighter around your body. Slight panic welling up as you easily spotted the sheets of ice on the roads below. Pulling out your phone you dialed the number for the eternally tardy man and to your relief he picked up after only two rings. **  
**

Jumping straight into defending himself he squawked straight into your ear.

“I’m on my way!”

“Knowing you that could mean just about anything. Are you nearby? Or have you just left like last time?”

“You know you are just like your mother. I didn’t lie then! I was on my way! On my way means I have left point A and am heading towards point B. Just because I could still see point A doesn’t mean I wasn’t on the way!”

“Dad!” It’s not polite to interrupt but if you didn’t cut this rant short you’d surely freeze and die right here. “Are you nearby?”

“Yes, brat. I’m pulling into the parking garage. Where are you?”

Looking to your left you saw the floor markers on the beams easily enough. “I’m on the fourth floor. E-something.”

“Okay I’ll meet you there.”

With a smile you hung up and headed towards the area he’d be coming from. It’d been a few weeks since you saw him. Moving out was exciting but you’d be lying if you said you didn’t miss your tight knit family. Your new housemates were quickly becoming a family of sorts so that was definitely helping but this was still a much anticipated reunion. Evidently in your excitement you forgot that you were in the frozen tundra hell of the United States and didn’t see the ice patch that made you lose your footing. “Shit! Balls! What the fuck!” Sputtering out the obscenities you scrambled to catch yourself and luckily you did so before you face planted on the dirty floor. Quickly, you straightened yourself and your eyes quickly darted around looking for witnesses. You tugged on your jacket before strutting onward like you didn’t just almost eat shit.  “Graceful as always, Y/N.” you coughed out under your breath. Just then you saw your dad’s vehicle come up the ramp and pull out onto your floor. Waving to his car you noticed quickly that the parking lot was packed. Luckily your dad always did have a knack for finding good spots. Which he showed once again when you saw him start to pull into a spot nearby only to see his brake lights flash brightly as the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. Confused, you watched as he sat there for a few moments only to slowly reverse out of the spot and head in the opposite direction to the spots in the way back of the lot. Your phone quietly buzzed in your pocket and you saw the terrible picture of him you set as the contact photo light up the screen. Starting again in the direction he drove off you answered the call.

“Hey, what’s going on? You develop a love for long walks in subarctic temperatures during my absence?”

“There was some kid standing in the spot.”

“What? He was just standing there??”

“Yeah. I think he’s saving the spot or something. I found one out here.”

“Those spots are OUTSIDE. You should’ve just made him move! You’re like a million years old…”

“First of all, you’re grounded.”

“Can’t ground me anymore.”

“Second of all, I’m not that old. And lastly, what do you mean make him move? You want me to run down some kid in the parking lot? Just come this way. Walk an _old man_ inside.”

“Yes, sir. Wouldn’t want you to bust a hip.”

Stuffing the phone back in your pocket you went to meet him. Eyeing the open spot a few feet away you slowed a little to check out just who felt it okay to break the golden rule of first come first serve.

He was leaning against the wall in a very ‘I look cool without trying’ way and he looked tall. First thing you noticed were the big glasses sliding off his face as he looked down at the phone in his hands. He raised his eyes to look in the direction your dad drove off in and he looked…nervous? Or guilty maybe? Who knows but you didn’t get to contemplate the emotion much longer because his eyes shifted and in a split second he was looking right at you. Oh no. He was really cute. Why did he have to be cute…? _Shit. Focus Y/N! He’s still an ass for taking the spot from an old man._ You did your best to scowl at him without blushing as you walked by. Likely unsuccessfully.  

With that dealt with you continued on your way to meet your father. You could see him heading your way from the back end of the parking garage and waved. Picking up the pace you smiled as you watched him amble on over. Just as he was about 10 feet away you looked up in time to see the patch of ice before him but not in time to warn him and you watched as he stepped on the spot and slipped before he fell backwards. His feet slid from under him and he hit the ground **hard**. With a sharp gasp you sprinted to where he was still lying on the ground. “Dad are you okay?! Can you walk?” He merely grunted as he tried to pull himself back to his feet. “I’m not dying, Y/N, calm down. I already told you. I’m not as old as you think!” Contrary to his statement you could see him wince as he straightened himself and started walking. He was definitely limping. “Dad seriously I think you hurt your hip… I knew you shouldn’t be parking way out here. There’s ice everywhere, this is a HAZARD who owns this stupid mall?!” “Y/N, hush and walk me inside so we can catch up. It’s too damn cold out here.” You let him put his arm around your shoulders as you walked him towards the doors. When you were nearing the doors you heard your father wince for what seemed to be the millionth time.

“You’re being so stubborn. My car is right there. We’re going to the hospital!”

“No! I want to catch up! We haven’t talked or seen you in weeks. You’re living in a house with strangers and I want to know what’s going on.”

“They aren’t strangers! It’s a big house so we rent out the extra room! That’s not even important. We can catch up on the way to the hospital. Let’s go. Mom will kill me if I bring you back with a busted hip.”

On your way you saw a car pull into the spot near the door and you watched as a pretty girl stepped out of the vehicle to hug the damn gate keeper wannabe that blocked the spot. They separated and he closed her door for her before they headed towards the doors. “Are you serious?! He was saving the spot for his girlfriend! Like she couldn’t walk??” You were standing outside of your car now so after quickly unlocking the doors you helped him into the passenger seat. “Wait here for a second.” “Y/N, calm down. I’m fine!” Softly shutting the door you turned around and spotted the two lovebirds a few feet away. Now, normally you aren’t one for unnecessary trouble but if there’s one thing that gets to you it’s disrespect. Who does he think he is making an old man park so far away? And now he’s hurt! Just so he could save a spot for his girlfriend? You caught up to the couple and took a deep breath.

“Hey!”

The guy turned to you first with a look of confusion. “Hello?”

“So, you mind telling me where you get off claiming a parking spot for your girlfriend when my dad clearly got to it first?! The dudes like a million years old and he slipped coming in from his spot 56 miles from the door. He’s limping and we have to go to the hospital now.”

The guy looks horrified. The woman started to say something but he quickly whispered something to his ladyfriend before she headed inside alone.

“That was your dad? I’m so sorry I felt like a jerk but–”

“You felt like a jerk but you apparently also felt like you and your girlfriend couldn’t handle walking a little more to get to your cars?”

His ears were turning a slight shade of pink now.

“I really didn’t know that the driver was elderly or I would’ve moved. Actually I’d normally never even-”

“I find that hard to believe. With those damn space goggles on your face lookin like Steve Urkel you should be able to see through time AND space so I’m not sure how you couldn’t see through a windshield to see that he’s old.”

Okay maybe the dig at his glasses was unnecessary but the glasses were huge alright?

He looked really guilty so your fire was dying down already and at this point there wasn’t much for him to do so you decided to just be done with it and get your dad to the hospital.

“I had to save the spot for her! She’s preg-”

“Honestly I didn’t come here to hear your excuses. I just want you to remember me the next time you wanna make other people suffer because you or your girlfriend want to be lazy. Maybe you can benefit from this and leave her with a little character development.”

“She not my girlfr-”

And with that you turned to walk to your car.

———–

Shuffling into your house you greeted your housemates. “Hey guys. I’m heading upstairs to nap~” Your female housemate Krystal poked her head out of the kitchen. “Okay but there’s a new renter coming today!”

“Yeah okay.”

The other housemate, Michael, shuffled past her into the room to speak to you as you drug your feet up the stairs. “He’s going to be in the room next to yours so he’s going to be using the shared bathroom.”

“Yes yes I know how this works… Leave me be so I can sleep. I had a long day.”

Finally reaching your door you opened your door only to see large suitcases stacked up in the center of your room. Turning back to the stair railing you hollered downstairs, “What’s with the luggage in my room?” Michael’s voice was first to respond. “I dunno the guy probably left them there by mistake. He seemed like he had somewhere to be but said he’d be back in a few hours so he should be showing up soon. When he gets here I’ll have him move them.” Nodding sleepily you turned back to your room and headed over to your bed. Flopping onto the mattress like a fallen log you rolled onto your back and closed your eyes. Your dad was fine. The doctor had given him some medicine for the pain and sent him on his way but before that happened you had been forced to sit in the waiting room for what felt like an eternity and it had been a draining day. Looking back you felt badly for the boy in the parking lot. You’ve always had a temper when it comes to people messing with your family and you were almost embarrassed by your outburst. Brushing it off for now, you closed your eyes and slowly felt yourself drift off into a light sleep.

Shortly you were awoken by the sound of the front door and voices coming from downstairs.

“Hey dude. Apparently you left your luggage in the wrong room. Yours is the one next to hers.”

“Oh damn. Alright, I’ll go get it. Today is not my day.” the new voice stated with a light chuckle.

“Ah what’s wrong? Not liking it here?” The voices were heading up the stairs, slowly getting closer and closer to your room.

“No, I like it here fine but today this girl just laid into me over a parking spot at the mall.”

Sitting up so fast you damn near snapped your neck, you felt instantaneous panic set in.

“Oh for real? Over a parking spot? Was it like a crabby old woman? Cuz they’ll bite your head off every time. You really gotta watch out for them here. The cold makes them extra tough and extra mean. Like bears.”

The two men laughed at that before the voice that you’re truly hoping you’ve never heard before speaks up again. “Nah, she was my age, I think. Well the guy in the car was her dad apparently so he was old but the girl was the one that got mad.”

You sat there, mortified, and Michael’s voice just rattled on like you weren’t sitting in your room just a few feet away contemplating climbing out the damn window to escape seeing that man again.

“Speaking of girls your age! The room next to yours is Y/N’s room. She’s pretty cool so I don’t see you guys having any problems.” The voices reached your door and their knock sounded off like the bells of death signalling your imminent demise. Scooting to the head of your bed you hoped that if you didn’t answer they would just go away. You could set his luggage in the hall once they left. You had just yelled at this poor boy over something that wasn’t entirely his fault. _Oh my god I called him Steve Urkel_ … looking back now you probably looked like such an asshole…

“Hmm. Maybe she’s sleeping. It’s alright she sleeps all the time so it’s no big deal to wake her up.” Michael knocked again. “She probably sleeps too much, honestly. Once, Krystal walked into the bathroom and found her asleep on the toilet. Pants around her ankles and everything it was HILARIOUS. Oh yeah, y’all are sharing a bathroom so let’s hope she doesn’t do that again.”

Scrambling off of the bed you sprinted to the door before this awful man tells any more  **embarrassing**  stories. Ripping the door open you looked at the shorter man in horror, “CAN YOU NOT, MICHAEL?!”

“Oh look she’s up!” Michael pulled his left hand from his pocket to gesture towards the man next to him. You looked at the all too familiar face in resignation. He could only stare, wide eyed and completely slack jawed, as Michael introduced him.

“This is Jae. He’s getting some kind of vocal training or something here in the city. Gonna be staying here for a month.”


	2. Chapter 2

Michael glanced between the two of you for a few seconds. “Damn. This is some major tension…” Turning to you he saw how red your face was. Shifting his gaze to the new house guest he saw Jae staring at you in shock. “Do you guys…know each other?”

Jea seemed to have regained some composure as he was the first to answer. “I’m not entirely sure. She looks so much different when she’s not calling people names in a parking garage.”

You lifted your head to glare at the boy as Michael seemed to connect the dots.

“NO WAY! Y/N you’re out there yelling at strangers?” His face shifted from shock to his trademark trouble maker’s grin before he continued. “And here you had us thinking you were a nice girl. For shame, Y/N.”

“I am a nice girl! Well…nice enough.”

Jae jabbed Michael in the side lightly before crossing his arms and stating, “She called me Steve Urkel.” He looked like he was trying not to smile which only irritated you more.

“Y/N! You called him Steve Urkel?! That’s not something a nice girl would do~ I raised you better than that.” Michael’s smile had his face nearly split in half. If there’s one thing that makes him happy it’s giving people shit. “Alright well, since you guys already know each other so well I’ll keep the introductions short. Jae, this is Y/N. She really is normally a cool enough person. Y’all are going to be neighbors here so maybe try to get along. You’re going to be sharing a bathroom too so work that out amongst yourselves. Uhmm…I think that’s it really.” Michael’s face twisted into a sneer once more. “You might wanna get your bags quickly. We’ve only just discovered that she has a bit of a temper.” You’d had enough of his shit so you quickly reached your hand out to smack at him but sadly he was faster. With the smile still on his face he dodged your swipe and quickly ran down the stairs to safety. “I swear I’m going to hurt you!” You hollered down the stairs after him as you leaned out of your door frame.

You heard snickering behind you and turned to your new neighbor. “Angry and violent.” the grin on his face might have been endearing if you didn’t already have the history you did. Sighing deeply you decided it was time to face this unfortunate encounter. “I am neither of those things, thank you very much. I am perfectly amicable most of the time. Here, come get your bags.” You walked back into your room with Jae following behind. You stopped walking and turned to him when you reached the center of the room.

“And I’m sorry I snapped at you. My dad has always been clumsy so it wasn’t right to snap at you like that. Well, to that extent at least. It was a dick move to block the spot so I wasn’t entirely–” You shook your head before starting again. “It doesn’t even matter. I’m sorry for making fun of your glasses and everything. That was definitely unnecessary.”

He looked at you with a small smile. “It’s alright. My fans make fun of them all the time so I’m used to it.”

“Your what?”

He laughed a little before waving his hand dismissively. “Nothing.”

He bent over to pick up the biggest of the bags and you watched as his face twisted and bunched up in thought. You could almost see the thoughts going through his head. First he shifted the largest suitcase so that he was holding this one under his arm, leaving his left hand free. Then he bent over again and pulled one of the smaller cases to his chest and then held it against his body and tucked this one under his arm on the other side. You couldn’t help but smile as he leaned over once more, careful to not drop the chests pressed in the space by his armpits, and grab the handles of the two remaining small cases. Watching him straighten back up you did your best to wipe the smile off your face. Which proved a nearly impossible task as he stood triumphantly with a huge smile on his face, clearly impressed with himself. His glasses were lopsided and nearly falling off his face and there were drops of sweat forming by his temples. “Aw yeah~” he murmured under his breath as he turned to waddle out of the room. You followed behind him, ready to grab any luggage that fell, to the door. As the goofy boy walked into the door frame you leaned over and reached around him to grab the door handle so you could close the door and end this all too eventful day. Before you had the chance to even finish the thought Jae stopped abruptly and turned back to you, nearly dropping one of the suitcases pressed against his chest. You quickly stepped forward and reached out to help him readjust the luggage. “Thank you.” you heard him grunt from the other side of the suitcase. Once it seemed as secure as it was going to be, you took a step back. He took a deep breath and looked at you. There was no silliness in his eyes now and it surprised you how accustomed you’d grown to his goofy antics in such a short time. He looked completely different now.

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry too. I felt really bad to send your dad off like that but the girl I was waiting for asked me to save her a spot. I should have moved. I’m really sorry that he fell and I hope he’s okay.” The seriousness on his face had you at a loss for words. The silence must have lasted longer than you thought or maybe he just misunderstood the face you were making because in a few seconds the solemn look he was giving you had slackened into one of absolute terror. “Oh my god… Did he die?!”

“What?!” You couldn’t help it and burst out laughing. Doubling over in stomach clutching laughter you looked up at the tall man standing in the door with tears in your eyes. He was staring at you for a second before he could no longer meet your eye out of embarrassment and stared off in another direction. His ears were bright red when you finally quieted down and stood straight again. You were doing your best to stifle the soft laughs that continued as you looked to his face. He was just definitely trying not to smile when he looked at you again.

“Are you done now? I was truly worried and you laugh? You really are the meanest girl I’ve ever met.” he stated in mock anger.

“I’m sorry but whose mind just jumps straight to death after a man slips on some ice? I told you he was limping not hemorrhaging.” You paused to wipe at the tears that wet your cheeks. “He’s fine though. Thanks for asking.”

“Well alright! That’s all you had to say! Now. If you’ll excuse me I have had a very trying day.” He narrowed his eyes at you before he continued, “I was harassed by some woman in a parking lot and then bullied in my own temporary home. Good day.” With one last fake glare he turned and walked down the hallway. Seeing him walk down the hallway carrying four suitcases was too cute and you could feel yourself smiling as he waddled down the hall. You made sure to watch him to make sure he got into his room without dropping the luggage before you turned back to your own room. As he reached his door he turned to you again, this time his smile was there for sure.

“Goodnight, Y/N. It was…nice?? to meet you I guess?” His head tilts to the side with the questioning tone of the question.

“Thank…you…?” If he was confused himself you were completely lost. I mean really. Is that even a compliment?

“Oh and also, that girl wasn’t my girlfriend. She’s my cousin.”

“Oh…okay. Sorry for that too then.”

He laughed a little before doing a little hop to readjust the suitcases still in his arms. In the shift he lost his grip on one and it nearly slipped out of his grasp. You took a step out to help before he cut you off, “I got it!” Meeting your eyes he smiled again. All top teeth and open mouth. It was a nice smile.

“Will you please go put those away before you drop them? You’re giving me chest pains.” You waved him towards his room and he chuckled again.

“Yeah alright. Goodnight again!

“Night.” You smiled again before heading back into your room. You were pretty much asleep before you could finish changing and hit the bed like a sack of bricks. It’s been a long day and you were exhausted but you still fell asleep with a smile on your face.

———————————

The next morning when you shuffled your way into the kitchen it was already past noon and you were greeted by an additional cheery face. You’d kept waking up last night and ended up not having the best nights sleep. The unnecessarily chipper voices chimed out simultaneously, “Good Morning, Y/N!” “Morning, guys.” You grumbled as you drug your feet towards the fridge. On the way you saw Jae look to Michael quizzically and then gesture in your direction. Without even the decency to swallow his food before answering, Michael answered the unspoken question around a mouthful of cereal, “She’s not exactly a morning person. Or an early afternoon person. And she takes naps almost every afternoon so not an afternoon person either. Guess that makes her a woman of the night.” You sat down with the bag of bagels from the top of the fridge just in time to catch the last comment and Michael waggled his eyebrows in your direction. Laughing dryly you tore a piece of bagel off and threw it at his head. To your right, Jae threw his hands in the air in mock exasperation, “Will the violence ever end?!” Michael dodged the flying bread bullet as he usually did and Jae laughed as Michael continued antagonizing you.

Krystal lowered her magazine to address the table. “Did Michael tell you guys about the party?”

“Party?” both you and Jae questioned.

“Oh yeah. We’re having a housewarming party tonight. To celebrate the new tenant.”

You looked over at Jae who looked just as confused as you were.

“But I don’t know anyone here? Who would I invite?”

Krystal snorted before picking up the magazine again. “That’s what I said but then I thought about whose idea it was. He’s just using your arrival as an excuse to get drunk.”

“You know Krystal I want to defend myself but you’re just too right.” The troublemaker whirled back toward the two of you and continued, “Don’t worry guys it’s just going to be us and two other people. A few beers and some drinking games. Completely harmless.”

“As if anything you have any part of is ever harmless…” you mumbled as you stood up. It was already 2 o’clock. “What time am I going to be expected to be back for this ‘harmless’ party?”

“Guests are coming at 8!” he told you with a spoon hanging out of his mouth. You headed to the door to get your shoes. Sitting on the landing at the bottom of the stairs, you looked up to see Jae and Krystal heading your way.

“Where are you heading so early in your day?” Jae asked you as the two stopped in front of the pile of shoes strewn around the front door.

“Gonna go to the store then run over to my parents house to see my dad.” You made sure to smile at Jae as you said the next line, “You see, he fell in the parking lot yesterday. Some people even thought he might die so it’s pretty serious.” Krystal looked confused for a second but before she could ask Jae rolled his eyes and spoke first, “Is this my life now? Being bullied and ridiculed for caring?” Krystal tapped you on the shoulder, “Can I come with you? I have to grab some stuff from the store too.” You nodded to the pretty girl. “Sure, more the merrier, I guess.” Jae looked between the two of you and then back towards the kitchen to Michael. “You’re both going?” Krystal laughed at him and waved as we headed out the door. “Don’t worry we’ll be back before the party. He’s not that bad.” You turned as Krystal followed you out the door and waved to the awkward looking boy standing next to the shoes. “Bye.” He looked back to you and waved before he flinched at Michael’s voice calling him from the kitchen. You closed the door while he was distracted and headed for the car.

______________________

The guests have been here for about an hour. Michael has been toasting to Jae for about an hour and a half now so Michael was pretty well done by this point but Jae didn’t seem nearly as gone as the older man. He must have been going easy on the new guy. Michael had certainly not allowed you the same courtesy. He handed you your 5th wine cooler. Mistake. You were a well renowned lightweight and if the chills in your stomach were any indicator you could probably stop drinking any time now. Stumbling your way through the house you sat on the landing of the stairs and observed the party. Michael and his friend, Brian, were standing around the kitchen table eating Krystal’s graham crackers. Judging by Michael’s shifty eyes and hushed tones Krystal was not aware that they were helping themselves to her favorite snacks. You scanned to the left and saw Krystal talking to the other party guest. You hadn’t caught her name but she seemed cool enough. You felt someone nudge you from behind and turned lazily to see a sneaker softly prodding your shoulder. Following the length of the leg attached to the sneaker your eyes eventually landed on Jae’s face. “Can I get by?”

You nodded slowly before you gathered your focus and tried to pull yourself up. Reaching up for the railing of the stairs you heaved yourself to your feet. You had exerted an unnecessary amount of strength in your attempt though and ended up launching yourself further forward than you meant to and you felt yourself stumble before Jae jerked a hand out to catch your arm.

“Woahh” he said as he helped you steady yourself.

You could only laugh as you smiled at the man staring at you in slight concern. “I’m good! I got it.” You softly lifted your arm out of his grasp. “See? Perfectly stable.”

He stared at you slightly swaying back and forth for a second. “Yeah… how about we go sit down so you don’t injure yourself? Sound good, ya lush?” He put his arm behind your shoulders and herded you towards the living room, careful to not actually touch you with his hand. When the pair of you made it to the living room you saw Krystal walking out of the kitchen scowling and clutching onto her nearly empty box of graham crackers. Michael made his way into the living room shortly after wiping crumbs off of his face. “Alright everybody. We’re going to start the games. Come and sit in a circle on the floor.” Jae lightly pushed you towards the forming circle and helped lower you to the floor before sitting cross legged to your left. You weren’t wasted or anything but you were definitely feeling good as you looked at everyone in the small circle. Brian sat down softly on your right. You shifted your gaze to look at his face and saw him smile at you and wave before sticking out his hand. “Hello! I’m Brian.” You took his hand in your own and shook it lightly before telling him your own name. The circle was formed and everyone had introduced themselves so everyone was soon looking at Michael waiting for instruction. He smiled at the gathered people and pulled a stack of cards out of his pocket. “We’re going to play suck and blow!” There were various groans heard throughout the circle but Michael simply pushed on. “The groans tell me everyone knows how to play?”

Jae raised his hand hesitantly. “I don’t. Is it a card game?”

You scoffed loudly and he turned to you. You shrugged and smiled at him. “I mean…kind of.”

He looked even more confused so you continued. “Party Boy over there is going to stick the card to his mouth and suck in air to hold it there. Then he’s got to pass it to the person next to him without dropping it. So, he’s got to blow instead of suck to make the transfer. Hence the name, ‘suck and blow’. Oh and you can only use your mouths.” You raised your hands and waved them around a little. “No hands.”

Jae turned back to face forward and you think you saw him swallow hard before he tried to get up. Before he could even get off his knee Michael stopped him. “Jae! Sit down! Everyone has to play!” He sighed and sat back down in resignation.

You reached over and pat him on the knee. He looked to you and raised an eyebrow at your hand on his leg.  
“Don’t worry about it too much. I’ve been playing this game since high school. As long as you don’t worry it won’t be that bad. Just a game.” You pulled your hand back to your lap and waited for Michael to start the game. Brian tried to hand you another wine cooler but you were still feeling the drinks from earlier. Michael raised his voice to announce the start of the game and you watched as the card made it’s way around the circle. Michael passed the card to Krystal and Krystal passed the card to Brian. You watched as Brian turned towards you. You quickly leaned in and pressed your lips to the card and took a big breath in to keep it in place. You turned to your left to face Jae.

His hair was ruffled messily and there was a definite shade of pink to his cheeks. Was he drunk? You had thought he stopped drinking a while ago. The closer you came to him the more worried he looked. You were about 3 inches from his face now and you stopped so he could come take the card. He hesitated before he slowly leaned in to you. He’s taking so long! You were running out of breath. Jae closed his eyes before he crossed the last few centimeters between the two of you. And instead of the cool plastic of the card his lips crashed into something warm and soft. His eyes shot open and he froze. He was staring right into your eyes as everyone around you whooped and hollered. His eyes widened even more as he watched your eyes flutter closed as your lips readjusted and pressed against his with new pressure.

Because in a split second it wasn’t just a game.


	3. Chapter 3

The whooping and hollering died down pretty quickly.

“Holy shit..”

“Oop.”

“Well, damn.”

Your eyes went wide as you realized what you were doing. Jae’s eyes were as round as saucers as he gawked at you in complete shock. What the hell do I do?! “Good God Y/N this is a family party!” Michael chastised you as he hobbled over on his knees to lightly push you away from Jae. In your panic you just went with the first plan you could think of and let yourself fall back completely after Michael pushed you. Sprawled on the ground you closed your eyes and grumbled some nonsense hoping they would think you were passed out. Not the best plan but at least I won’t have to deal with this right now… You heard Michael tsk tsk at you in condemnation, “She’s always been a lightweight. I should’ve known she was gonna pull some shit if we let her drink more than 3 wine coolers.”

“Let her? You were the one that kept making her drink!” Krystal came to your defense. “Someone should take her upstairs. Poor thing should sleep in her bed.”

There was a moment of silence before Jae cleared his throat and hesitantly spoke, “I’ll take her. I think I’m going to go to bed anyways.”

You could practically hear the grin in his voice when Michael spoke. “You sure? She might attack you again. Want someone to go with you for protection?”

There was a light smacking sound before Krystal was heard defending you again. “Shut up, she’s just drunk. Leave her alone.” Thank you, Krystal. You’re an angel, I swear.

Jae spoke again before he stood. “Yeah I got it. My room is right there anyways.”

“Alright well let’s move this party into the kitchen. I think Krystal still has some snacks hidden in the cabinet above the fridge.”

“Michael, you touch my snacks I will hurt you!”

The voices retreated to the kitchen and you felt footsteps coming near before Jae knelt next to you. “Y/N, can you walk?”

Lying there you thought about your options. I can not say anything and let him carry me up the stairs. I wouldn’t have to talk to him but the idea of him carrying me up the stairs right after I kissed him is enough to send me into cardiac arrest. Or I could walk up the stairs with his help. Less physical contact means more likely chances I’ll get to bed without having a heart attack. But I’ll probably have to talk to him…

You must’ve been taking longer than you thought because you heard a sigh and a second later there were hands pulling you into a sitting position. An arm slid under your knees and another behind your back as he started to lift you but the second your body pressed against his chest you panicked. Rolling out of his grasp you tried to stand. “I got it! I’m good!” Clearly you did not have it because you lost your balance almost immediately and nearly fell. Jae reached out and tentatively grasped your shoulders to steady you. He lowered his head and studied your face. His brows scrunched up in faint concern. You stood completely still. There was definite heat growing in your face and you hoped the alcohol would be a suitable excuse for why you were blushing.

Avoiding his gaze, you stared at the floor for a few moments before you couldn’t take it anymore. Stepping backwards out of his grasp you teetered slightly before you ran your fingers through your hair and tried to fake a lighthearted laugh. “I’m fine. I can walk.” Finally looking at his face now you smiled and tried to act nonchalant.

He stared at you some more for a second until the corners of his lips turned up a little. “You’re good right? Like you’re not going to get sick or anything?”

You shook your head. “Nope! I don’t usually get sick.” Even you could hear that your voice was overtly chipper.

He was looking at you with a definite smirk at this point and if you weren’t still mortified you’d wanna smack it off his face. He shifted his weight to one foot and stared at you with his stupid smug face. “Mhmm…okay. I’m going to head upstairs too though so I’ll walk you to your room. Make sure you don’t hurt yourself on the way.”

“Yeah okay. Suit yourself! Doesn’t matter to me! I’m good with anything. It’s all chill on suburban hill ha ha. My mom used to say that.” you could hear how ridiculous you sounded but there was nothing you could do. It was complete word vomit. Jae’s smile grew with every stuttered sentence. “Makes no difference to me.” you finished with a small chuckle.

“Wow.” His smile never faltered as he nodded in mock awe. “That was some impressive rambling. Honestly. You should look into competing professionally.” he started shaking with quiet laughter.

He was definitely making fun of you.

“Thanks. I’ve been practicing for most of my life.” You were still trying to sound casual but his teasing was getting to you and you could feel the blush splashed across your cheeks.

You lifted your hand in a ‘thumbs up’ kind of way and awkwardly gestured to the stairs behind you. “So uh… I’m going to go to bed.” Sloppily pivoting you headed for the stairs. As you stepped onto the landing you could feel Jae following closely behind but you tried to ignore it. Just make it to your room and you might survive this night with a little dignity. You were steadily making your way but you had to slow down to keep your balance. Between the alcohol and the nerves you definitely needed to concentrate extra hard.

Halfway up the stairs you chanced a glance at him and saw that he was watching your feet very closely. Making sure you got a decent foothold on every step with his hands were slightly raised, ready to catch you if you should fall. As if he could feel your gaze his eyes lifted to your face and met yours. When he saw you looking he smiled softly and pointed ahead. Signaling you to watch where you were going. Nodding quickly you faced forward again and focused on the last few steps. Breathing a sigh of relief as you took the last step.

As Jae followed you up the last step he raised his arms up high and smiled, “Look at that! You did it! And with no injuries.” His arms came down and he looked at the door to your bedroom. Walking passed you he turned the knob and held it open. Without a word you walked passed him and entered the room before turning back to the man standing in your doorway.

“Make sure you drink some water before you go to sleep! I’ve seen you take like 13 bottles in here and never saw you take any downstairs so I’m sure there’s one in here somewhere.” He laughed a little then nodded.

He started to close the door and you took a step forward. “Hey Jae?”

His head popped through the half closed door. “Yeees?~”

“I uh…I’m sorry I…kissed you.” At the mention of the kiss his ears twitched a tiny bit and you thought you saw the tips turn a little pink. “I’m not really sure what happened but I shouldn’t have kissed you out of the blue like that.” Looking away you shuffled your weight between your feet and stared at the ground.

It was a few moments before he spoke. “You know what? It’s cool.” You looked at him now and he was scratching at the side of his head nervously. He looked back at you and raised his hand to point at you with a smile. “I’ll give you this one free of consequence. Chalk it up to lowered inhibitions from your obvious drinking problem.”

“Thanks. That would be much appreciated…” you laughed softly. “Well, goodnight. Get out of my room.”

“Yeah night.” he chuckled. His head disappeared into the hallway for a moment and you let out a breath you’d been holding. Shuffling over to your bed you sat on the comforter for a moment before Jae’s head popped back into the room to speak again. “Oh yeah also… try to control yourself for the rest of the night, please. I have lessons tomorrow and I’d like to sleep without getting interrupted by your drunken sexual advances. Actually, I think I’m just going to lock my door.”

And just like that the serious mood was destroyed. You turned and grabbed a pillow off your bed and threw it at his head as hard as you could. Jae ducked his head back into the hallway and closed the door quickly. You could hear him laughing on the other side and couldn’t help but join him. You heard his voice from the hallway, “Goodnight ya drunk!” and then you heard his bedroom door close.

You fell back onto your bed and slid under the covers. Turning onto your back you ran your fingers through your hair and prepared for bed. Not even bothering to change. I am never going to live this down… was your last thought before you passed out. For real this time.

————————————

“Whoever you are I’m going to end your life…” your voice was thick and scratchy as you waddled to the door. Grabbing onto the handle you opened the door to figure out which of your housemates wanted to die. After all, what other reason could one have for banging on her door this early? The door swung open and Jae stood there dressed in casual athletic clothes with a million wat smile. “Your smile is too bright. Turn it down.” you grumbled as you turned around and shuffled back to sit on your bed. Jae followed you into the room and closed the door behind him before he came to stand next to you. You grabbed a pillow off the bed and crossed your legs before burying your face in it as you sat. Looking down at you he poked your head with his finger. Groggily you lifted your head to peer up at him.

The energetic boy squat down so he was eye level and stuck his lower lip out in a pout.

You narrowed your eyes at his sudden puppy dog face, “…what do you want?”

Jae clasped his hands together in front of him. “Please please drive me to my lessons? My cousin can’t come and I need to leave soon.”

“Where are they? Is it far?”

He shook his head fervently before looking at you with that face again. “Not at all they’re like 15 minutes from here. Please, please, please?”

You glared at him while he jacked up the pouting. Huffing out a sigh you pushed his forehead lightly with your fingertips. “Get out so I can get dressed.”

He unleashed another million wat smile as he left the room. “Okay I’ll be waiting downstairs! Thank you!”

“You know what? From now on you are no longer allowed to smile before 10 AM.”

————————————-

“15 minutes my ass, Jae. We’ve been driving for 25 minutes.” You shot him a glare as you checked your blind spot and changed lanes. Jae was bopping his head along to the radio and turned to smile at you as he shrugged, “I was estimating.”

“Yeah well you suck at it. What are these lessons for anyways? You said they were for work?” You swear you felt him tense at that. There was a definite change in his demeanor.

“They’re….uh vocal lessons. I…work in music.” He sounded really hesitant all of a sudden.

“What like a music teacher? Oh are you like a singing coach for idols?!”

Jae turned in his seat to look at you. “You know about idols?” His eyes were very focused and it was slightly unnerving.

“Uh yeah? I like a few groups from there. I don’t know many like in detail but I know a couple. I like BTS a lot. I know EXO, Mamamoo, and BAP. Outside of them I don’t know many other groups besides their music.” He seemed to slouch a little in his chair. Like he had released a lot of tension. You looked at him hesitantly. “Is that…bad? My friend from high school was really into kpop and she showed me a couple of groups.”

Jae looked much more relaxed now and turned to you with a smile. “Nah it’s not.”

“So is that it? You’re a music teacher?”

“Something like that.” was his only response before he rushed into a rather obvious subject change. “You wanna know what I’ve been thinking?”

Even though you could tell he was changing the subject you decided to drop it since you got the distinct feeling he didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “Yeah alright, I’ll bite. What have you been thinking?”

Jae leaned back in his seat and tucked his arms behind his head. “They say that the only honest people in this world are babies…” he paused here and turned to look at you. His smile looked like trouble. “-and drunk people.”

Mistake.

“I revoke my previous statement. I don’t want to know what you’re thinking. In fact I want you to stop thinking entirely. If you think even one more thought I’m going to open your door and kick you out and I won’t even slow down.” You could see his smile grow wide in your peripheral vision.

You arrived up to the building that your GPS was set to and pulled into a parking spot.

“We’re here now so get out of my car. Michael said he was going to come get you once the lessons are over.”

Jae unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out. He waved at you from the sidewalk on his way in, “Thank you~”

Once he was in the building you turned around and drove home. Your heart still thumping violently in your chest.

—————————————-

You were sitting on the living room couch watching a movie when Michael and Jae walked in. Michael danced passed the television pointing finger guns at you and headed towards the kitchen as Jae came and plopped himself onto the other end of the couch. As Michael entered the kitchen you spun around quietly to watch him from your spot and reached over to tap Jae repeatedly. He shifted his attention from the rerun episode of George Lopez to you and noticed your sneaky behavior. His face twisted in confusion before he spun around to see what you were so interested in. Following your gaze he saw Michael climbing onto the counter and reaching into the cabinet above the fridge. Seeing movement on the edges of his vision he looked to the left end of the kitchen and saw Krystal hiding behind a wall also watching Michael. He had pulled Krystal’s box of graham crackers out of her hiding spot and slid his fingers into the container.

“OH GOD!”

Krystal and you burst out laughing as Michael ripped his hand out of the box and shook it back and forth until something fell off his fingers and flew into the wall. Jae’s eyes followed the movement and saw a mouse trap laying on the ground.

“I told you to stay out of my snacks you mooch!”

“Who does that?! I thought there was a rat or something eating my hand!”

“That’s what you get!”

The two housemates were really going at it now so you looked over and tapped at Jae again. When he turned to you, you slowly stepped off the couch and pointed upstairs. He nodded to you and followed you up the stairs.

Stepping into the hallway you turned to explain yourself, “Sorry, it’s just that they can get really heated and I figured I’d rescue the new kid. They would’ve tried to get you involved.”

“Ohh gotcha. Thank you then that would have been really uncomfortable.”

You were leaning against the stair railing and Jae stopped to lean against the wall across from you.

“Yeah. So, how was your lesson? What did you do?”

“Not much. Just kind of got to know the new instructor and did some vocal exercises.”

“So are you any good? At singing I mean.”

Jae made a face. ‘‘Uhmm I’m kind of amazing actually.”

You couldn’t help but smile and scrunched up your nose at him. “I don’t believe you.”

“How dare you. You know what, come here.” He pushed off the wall and you followed him down the hall to his room. “You’re going to feel really foolish in a few seconds so you might want to prepare for that.”

“Yeah yeah. Just show me whatever you’re showing me so I can go.”

Jae gestured towards the bed in the corner and you walked over and sat down on the edge. He walked over to the chair against the opposite wall and grabbed the guitar before heading back towards the bed. He sat next to you and adjusted the guitar in his lap. Jae strummed the strings once dramatically and lifted his head with a big ol smile. “Are you ready to be amazed?”

You sighed dramatically although you were definitely smiling, “Good lord dude just do it!”

His gaze turned down to the strings again and he started to play a peppy melody and let out a breathy sigh and looked up to you again before he started to sing.

“I was so high I did not recognize

The fire burning in her eyes

The chaos that controlled my mind”

Jae looked back to the strings and you nodded along to the song. He seemed like a completely different person. His voice was melodic and soft and his finger moved along the chords easily. His voice picked up as he hit the chorus.

_“This love has taken it’s toll on me_

_She said goodbye too many times before_

_And her heart is breaking in front of me_

_I have no choice_

_Cause I won’t say goodbye anymore._

_Oooh oh”_

His voice carried the notes out perfectly until his fingers slowed to a stop and he lifted his head with a smug smile. Turning his head to you dramatically he confidently asked, “So, you amazed? You know that would’ve cost you a fair amount to see back home.”

You were definitely impressed. “I kind of am, actually. You’re really good.”

His confidence faltered at that. He brought his hand up to rub at the back of his neck. “Well, it’s no fun if you just cave…” His face was warming up and you noticed the red tints spreading along his cheeks.

“Are you blushing? Oh my god you are! Where did all that bravado go?” You teased as you poked at his side repeatedly. Jae started wriggling around almost immediately.

“Who tickles people anymore?! What are you, 5 years old??” his voice was thick with indignation.

The guitar slid to the ground and Jae turned to try to grab at your hands. He managed to capture one but you were definitely not going to let him get the other. He’s been giving you shit all day and it was about time you got to give him some. Laughs rang throughout the room as you jabbed at his stomach with your only free hand. Jae finally got a hold of your forearm and held tight. You tried to pull your hand free but you knew he had you beat. Smiling brightly and panting you lifted your head to look at the face of your wrestling opponent. And suddenly realized how little distance there was between you.

You saw his smile soften as his eyes scanned your features. His gaze drifted down your face until it came to a stop at your lips. You could feel your heartbeat in your ears as you watched him hesitantly lean forward just a bit. Jae flit his eyes to yours, looking for some kind of confirmation. You met his eyes for a moment before you closed yours and leaned in to close the distance. Although you’ve kissed him before it didn’t feel that way. Everything about this kiss was new. Jae slid the hand holding your forearm down to your hand before entwining your fingers in his and bringing the other to slide up the back of your neck to hold your head gently. The kiss was soft and a little hesitant but it was wonderful.

And short lived.

The door burst open suddenly and Michael and Krystal stormed into the room still arguing. Michael had an ice pack on his fingers and Krystal was waving around two separate empty boxes of graham crackers.

They stopped in their tracks as they saw the two of you. Jae’s hand was still on your neck and though your lips weren’t touching anymore it wasn’t hard for them to guess what was happening.

Michael looked at the two of you and his face twisted into an amused grin. “Well, what is this…?”


	4. Part 4

There was a moment of silence before anyone responded. Jae’s hand slid off your neck to fall back into his lap but he kept his hold on yours in the other. Krystal simply stared from the door, her mouth curved into in a knowing smile. She looked away from the human tomatoes sitting on the bed and reached out towards the man teasing you. Wrapping her fingers around Michael’s elbow she began towing him out of the room. His protests began the second she started dragging him backwards towards the door.

“Krystal wait! Come on, this is amazing! You have to let me bug her a little. It’s my right as an American citizen!”

She turned back to close the door and paused to speak to you.

“Sorry about that, guys. Knocking isn’t a habit of ours.”

Krystal focused her gaze on you and gave you a quick thumbs up before she slowly closed the door.

You slowly spun back to Jae and you saw the clear splotches of red covering ⅔ of his face. He was looking at your hands and fiddling with your fingers like a nervous habit.

“So.”

He lifted his head and beamed at you, the pink still very evident in his cheeks. “So.”

You smiled before looking away. You could feel the heat in your face as you peered down at your entwined hands.

“You know that Michael is never going to shut up about this right? There will never be another moment of peace for you in this house.”

Jae chuckled softly. “Yeah that thought went through my head too. I’m contemplating just moving.”

You smacked his chest lightly with your free hand and he laughed. “Nah, there wasn’t really much peace here to begin with so I’m not too worried about it.”

You nodded. “That is true.”

After sitting there for a few moments of shy glances and hand holding you slid your hand out of his grasp and stood.

Jae watched from the bed as you nervously pushed some hair behind your left ear and cleared your throat. “I’m hungry and I was in the middle of a George Lopez marathon so I’m gonna go.”

“Alright. I actually do have to practice a little more but if you don’t mind sharing your snacks I could join you after? I don’t want to go down there and get my hand stuck in a mouse trap.”

You waved a hand nonchalantly and smirked a little. “Nah, it’s just stale popcorn. I’d share that with anybody.”

Jae’s eyes went wide and his mouth hung open in a wide smile. “Oh really? Well don’t I feel special.”

“Ah shut up.” You turned around and left the room.

After closing the door you brought your hands up to cup your cheeks as you speed walked through the hall and down the stairs. You sped past the front door and flung yourself face down onto the couch.

Whipping yourself into a sitting position you thought about what happened upstairs and pulled your shirt up over your face and fell back onto the couch with a happy sigh.

“Please tone down the whole love sick thing. I’m trying to have a conversation here.”

You pulled your shirt down off your face and inspect the opposite end of the couch to see Krystal standing there with her hands on her hips. “Can I sit or are you going to keep on with the blushing and giggling?”

“You can sit but I’m making no promises about the rest.” You stuck out your tongue and sat up so she could sit down.

She walked around the arm of the couch and sat in front of you. She spent a good 30 seconds adjusting herself like some kind of house cat before her face transformed into one of girlish excitement. “Okay to be honest I totally saw this coming!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! You should’ve seen his face when you kissed him at that party.” Krystal waved a hand around her face. “All red everywhere. Like a cute little lobster. His face was hilarious! He sat there for like 5 seconds like this:” she closed her eyes and parted her lips just barely. There was a distinct dopey vibe to the face she was making and that seemed pretty true to character. “Poor boy looked like you short circuited him.” She started clapping gleefully and her excitement was definitely contagious. “So I saw this coming. What happened though? You guys just disappeared and then we walk in on you making out.” You felt the heat return to your cheeks at the visual that gave you.

“First off, we weren’t making out. It was just one kiss…”

She dropped the smile immediately and gave you a look of skepticism.

“And second of all, I’m not really sure. He was playing his guitar and then I started teasing him and then we ended up getting really close and it just kinda happened.”

“Well, do you like him?”

You narrowed your eyes at her. “No, Krystal. Not at all. That’s why I’m over here giggling like a 2nd grader.” Your voice dripping with sarcasm. “Yeah, I do. Which is funny considering how we met. I hadn’t really even recognized it until we accidentally kissed at the party.”

Krystal scoffed and raised her hands to make quotations in the air, “‘Accidentally.’”

She laughed when you reached over and pushed her in response. “I don’t blame you though. He’s a cutie. So, are y'all dating now or what?”

You hadn’t thought about that yet and her question made you realize something you hadn’t before. Sighing deeply you spoke again, most of the mirth gone now. “No, I don’t think so. I mean he’s only here for like a month. It wouldn’t make much sense to get into a whole thing.”

Krystal nodded solemnly before patting you on the shoulder. “It’s okay. Just enjoy it while you’ve got it! You like him and I’m pretty damn certain he likes you too.”

Her advice made sense and it did make you feel a little better. You looked to your friend and smiled softly. Krystal’s mouth twisted into a grin then.

“So, is he a good kisser?”

You grabbed a couch pillow to hit her with and distract her from the redness that surely took over your face. After a few swipes you set the pillow down and fixed your hair before grinning back. “But yes.”

Jae descended the stairs and saw Krystal and you giggling on the couch. As soon as Krystal heard the soft pads of his feet on the wood floorboards she turned her head to look at him quickly before turning back to you with a grin. She stepped off the couch and stole a hand of popcorn before heading towards the hall to her room.

Jae spun to speak as she passed him. “You’re not going to watch with us?”

She waved a hand and kept walking, “Nah. I’m not a big fan of reruns. You guys watch.”

You watched him spin back and stroll over to the couch before he plopped down onto the cushion next to yours. He had changed into a cut sleeve t shirt which left his arms exposed and a pair of sweatpants. His shoulder was just barely touching yours and when he leaned over to reach the popcorn in your lap his entire bicep pressed against your arm. You peeked to your right to observe the boy who had been so shy earlier. He was lounging so comfortably you wondered if perhaps you were the only one still embarrassed about the kiss. His hair was down and fluffy and it bounced a little when he laughed at something happening on the show. The more you stared the softer it looked. You found yourself wondering what it felt like.

“Listen, little lady. I know that I am gorgeous but if you keep staring at me I’m not gonna be able to pretend to be cool and that’s kind of what I’m going for right now.”

Caught red handed you dropped your gaze from his hair to his face and saw him peering at you. His cheeks showed slight pink tones again and you smirked. He was just pretending. He was just as embarrassed as you.

You turned back to the TV and slid deeper into the back of the couch to get comfortable. You set the remote in between the two of you rested your hand on top of it. “Last I checked, cool guys didn’t blush as much as you do. So you might wanna work on that a little.”

He didn’t turn to you but you did see him flinch a little out of the corner of your eyes and you smiled. He tossed a piece of popcorn into his mouth.

“Well, it’s funny that you say that because I seem to recall a certain someone walking out of my room lookin like a damn tomato not 15 minutes ago.”

You kept your eyes on the TV.

“Maybe but I’m not the one still blushing 15 minutes later.”

Just then you felt warm fingers slide across the top of your hand and slide between your own. Looking down you saw his fingers wrap around your hand. Turning your gaze to his face you noticed his eyes still focused on the TV and you felt your cheeks warm as his thumb graze along the base of yours. Jae turned to you and scanned your cheeks before his face lit up triumphantly and he leaned back to watch the TV once more. “Now we’re both blushing. So there. Now stop harassing me and watch George Lopez.”

And you did.

The two of you sat there and watched rerun sitcoms for a while. Jae interrupting once in a while to make a terrible joke and you would make a comment every now and then. Soon enough it was getting late and you could feel your eyes begin to droop. You shifted your weight and propped your head up on the arm of the couch. Shortly the canned laughter from the TV faded out and lulled you to sleep.

Jae laughed loudly at something on the TV. When he didn’t hear you laughing with him he turned to see that you were now asleep. He looked around pensively for a moment before reaching across the long couch, careful not to jostle you, and grabbed the blanket hanging off the arm. Jae unfolded the blanket and tossed it across you as best he could with one free hand. He looked down at your entwined hands and tried to slowly slide his hand out. Almost immediately he felt your fingers tighten around his hand. You rustled slightly in your sleep and tugged his hand closer to you; pulling Jae closer in the process. 

He was leaning over you slightly now and your side was pressing against his chest. Closing his eyes he prayed for a second that the contact wouldn’t wake you. Once you were still again he took a deep breath and pulled your hand just a bit so that he could sit down comfortably. His side was pressed to yours but at least he wasn’t leaning over you like before. He gazed at you and smiled before he pulled another pillow from the far end of the couch and propped it against the back of the couch. Lifting part of the blanket and laying it across his lap he sat with you and held your hand until he too fell asleep.

—————————-

“Hey lovebirds.”

You groaned slightly as you turned away from the loud voice to bury your face into the couch. The sun was way too bright down here.

“Hey!”

Groaning again you drug yourself into a sitting position and whipped your head to the source of the disgruntled voice and saw Michael standing there. He had his arms crossed and he was glowering down at you. “This is a public space. Oughtta have you both arrested for public indecency.”

Krystal strolled past on her way to the kitchen. “Hand holding is hardly public indecency. You’re just mad because you haven’t had a girlfriend in a year and a half.”

Michael swiveled around to gape at her in indignation. “Krystal. If you refuse to be part of the solution don’t speak of the problem.” He stomped after her into the kitchen. “Krystal. Krystal, you’re the one that refuses to go on one date with me so you don’t get to tease me.”

Jae lifted his head now and you turned to observe him. He was squinting and looking around out of one opened eye. The other still squeezed shut in the bright light and his hair was a fluffy mess. He lifted both of his hands up to his face (and yours considering he didn’t bother to let go of it) and rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles. Jae dropped his hands into his lap and looked at you through still slightly squinted eyes and smiled. “Morning.”

“Morning.” You tilted your head slightly to stare at him quizzically. “You know, you could have went upstairs.”

He laughed and pulled his legs in to cross in front of him. “Oh could I have? Because I tried and you went all hulk hands on my fingers.”

You looked at him in mock insult and swiped your hand out of his. “Oh, so I’ve got hulk hands?”

“A little bit.” He chuckled. “Hey, I was thinking. Do you wanna go to a movie or something? Tonight.”

Your heart raced a little and you grinned at the sleepy eyed man sitting cross legged in front of you. “Sure.”

His face lit up with one of those blinding smiles and you pushed on his forehead with one finger. “Pretty sure I prohibited those smiles before 10 AM.”

“Psh. You don’t control me.” He stood up. “Gonna go eat. You coming?” He extended you his hand with a pleasant smile. You took it and hauled yourself to your feet. Letting his hand go you headed toward the kitchen only to have his fingers weave into yours again when he caught up.

Walking into the kitchen you were met with Krystal’s approving grin and Michael throwing his hands into the air in frustration. He started squawking on about ‘repeat offenders’ and ‘disregarding the law’ but you weren’t paying attention. All you could think about was the date tonight and the grinning boy holding your hand.


	5. Part 5

Krystal was sitting on your mattress cross legged; sifting through the different clothes you’d set out on your bed. “Wait, I thought you guys were going to a movie?” She tossed aside a particularly dressy top with a look of completely unnecessary disdain.

You were pulling more clothes out of your dresser and tossing them her way. “Yeah I thought so but according to him ‘movie or something’ had heavy emphasis on ‘or something’.”

“And he didn’t tell you what that something was?”

“No, so I have no idea what to wear…”

Krystal picked up a sequined blouse with two fingers like it was diseased and dropped it into the floor. “Not that, I’ll tell you that much.”

“Could you stop throwing my clothes onto the ground?”

“Could you stop buying such hideous clothes?”

You whirled around to face her, a solution suddenly coming to mind. “You could go see what he’s wearing? To kinda gauge how dressed up I should get!”

She nodded her head slowly, contemplating. “That could work, I guess. Do you think he’s getting ready this soon though?”

Your eyes darted to the clock on the bedside table. “He said to be ready by 4:30. It’s 3:30 now…an hour isn’t all that early is it?”

“You never know. He’s a musician. They tend to be the primping type. I’ll go check.” She slid off your bed and lithely left the room; leaving the entry to your room wide open. You heard her knock on the door down the hall and the quiet creak of the old thing swinging open. The sounds of hushed voices traveled over the wooden floorboards but no discernable words made it to your room.

Soon enough you heard the creaking again and Krystal walked back into your room snickering. She sat on your bed once more and situated herself comfortably. “He is definitely the primping type. That or he’s just as annoyingly excited as you are. He’s in there messing with his hair.”

“Did you see what he was wearing?”

“Yeah, he had a bunch of sweaters laid out on his bed. Looks like date casual. Just wear one of those form fitting sweaters and some nice jeans.”

Letting out a sigh of relief you walked over and threw the dressy clothes back into your dresser and examined the clothes remaining on your mattress. You picked up a white fuzzy sweater and hesitantly looked up to see your friends assessment. Judging by the scrunched up nose she didn’t like it so you set it back down. Watching her face you drifted your hand to the right over the other sweaters until you saw her nod slightly. Looking back towards the mattress you observed the maroon turtleneck that had managed to attain her approval. Deciding she’d know best you reached over and grabbed at the dark jeans lying next to your pillow. You gave the girl on the bed a look and she fell back and looked at the ceiling so you could change.

Once you had the clothes on and adjusted you cleared your throat to signal that you were done. Krystal sat up and assessed your clothes. After a few seconds the corners of her mouth lifted slightly and she gave you a thumbs up.

“Okay now help me with my hair and face.”

She groaned as she dramatically slid off the bed onto her feet. “Can you do nothing on your own?”

You scoffed at the theatrics. “Like you don’t love dressing me up like some doll. Please.”

She smiled at you. “True.” She skipped into the bathroom and you followed behind her just in time to see her knock on the door connecting the bathroom with Jae’s room.

“This bathroom is occupied until 4:30. Come in and you will meet a horribly violent end.” Her hand slid down to the handle and there was a soft click as she locked the door.

There was a faint grumbling from his room and Krystal swivelled back to you and started brushing through your hair while you sifted through the makeup on the counter.

——–

You’d been ready for 15 minutes now and staring at the red numbers glaring from your alarm clock was giving you a headache. Krystal was laying next to you tossing a throw pillow into the air repeatedly. You were both lying across your twin sized mattress, legs up the wall and heads hanging slightly off the edge.

The hour changed to 6 and within a second the door to your room burst open with a bang. Krystal jumped at the sudden intrusion and you both turned to the door to see Jae standing in the doorway with a big smile. He was wearing a thin puffy jacket over a hoodie with a red beanie. He looked at your clothes for a moment. “Oh you’re wearing a sweater! Good! You have a hat and gloves right?”

Narrowing your eyes in suspicion you nodded and he clapped his hands together and smiled.

“Alrightty! Do you think Michael will lend me some gloves?” He waved a hand dismissively and chuckled dryly. “Actually I’ll just grab some. He won’t care.”

Krystal peered at him through slit eyes from the bed. “You’re very…chipper. And fidgety.”

Jae simply nodded his head and stuck his hands into his jacket pockets.

Krystal leaned over and nudged you in the side with an elbow. “Someone’s nervous.” She smirked as the antsy man standing in the doorway glared back.

“You know you guys should’ve really put that in the ad for the room. ‘Tenant will suffer constant bullying by housemates.’”

Krystal snorted softly then laid back down, deciding to leave the poor boy alone.

Smiling at the girl sprawled across your bed you stood and headed for the door, grabbing onto the edge of Jae’s jacket sleeve and tugging him towards the stairs. “Let’s go get you some gloves.”

He made sure to stick his tongue out at Krystal before following after you into the hallway. You released his sleeve once you reached the stairs. “So what’s the plan? Are we going to be walking? Is that why we need gloves?”

“Not to be cheesy but it’s obviously a surprise. Come on, Y/N. Use your head.”

The two of you made it to the bottom of the stairs and you led him to the trunk next to the front door. You clicked open the latches holding the box shut, lifted the top, and started sifting through the various gloves and hats to find a matching set. Jae knelt next to you and started searching as well. He found a matching pair of red mittens quickly enough; you watched him slide the first one on with no trouble but then he was faced with the dilemma of the second mitten. You watched him for a few moments with a smile on your face as he tried and failed to hold the mitten in his gloved hand and slide the other in. Then he tried holding the glove in his teeth and slither his hand into it that way.

You reached over and tugged on the end of the mitten. Deciding he’d struggled enough you held the mitten open and he slid his hand in and thanked you with a smile.

Turning back to the trunk you pulled out a set of black mittens. You put the gloves on quickly and stood again only to feel a tug on your hand. Jae straightened himself up and waved a hat in front of you. “Forgot your hat, genius.” He took a step and stood in front of you before raising the hat and pulling it down onto your head. You watched his face as his fingers lightly tucked stray hairs back into place. His hand was still hanging near your face when his eyes glided down and met your own. He watched you study his face for a moment before he grabbed the front of the hat and yanked it down faintly to cover your eyes; taking a step back with a quiet laugh. Pulling the hat back with a huff you glared at the tall boy and fixed your hair. Jae looked over your winter gear for a few seconds and then nodded with finality.

“Now you’re ready. Let’s go!” The excited man opened the front door and pranced into the front yard and you followed him out into the cold.

You’d taken about 6 steps before Jae stopped suddenly, spun back towards the house and gave you a bashful smile. “Just a second! I forgot something.” He ran past you back into the house. Emerging 30 seconds later he ambled back to you with two thermoses in hand. The warm steam smelt like chocolate when he handed you one with a smug grin. “How cool and well prepared am I?”

Twisting the top open you took a cautious sip; the hot chocolate was sweet but too much so and very warm. Meeting his eyes you gave him a smile and nodded your head in acknowledgement.

“Well prepared…moderately cool.”

“It is tragically indicative of my mistreatment that that is a much nicer answer than I was expecting. Come on, we’re walking this way.” Jae nudged you in the direction he was headed and you both started down the sidewalk.

The walk was short and full of laughs and playful pushing and soon enough Jae swung an arm in front of him and the out towards the large hill in the center of the city park you had stopped in front of. “Ta-dah!!”

The hill was empty and judging by his excited presentation you got the distinct feeling that something was missing.

You looked at him quizzically for a moment and he turned to see what you were so confused about. His arms dropped to his sides. “What the hell? Someone jacked our sleds!”

Your eyes wandered around the park and you saw some teenagers sitting on the picnic tables along the edge of the park. Lying forgotten at their feet were two plastic sleds. You tapped Jae’s shoulder then pointed towards the tables.

He turned in the direction you pointed; his hands slid up to rest on his hips and he shook his head in disapproval. “The youths today, I tell ya.” He lifted an arm to point in their direction. “Those are our sleds. I'ma go ask for them back.”

Jae trudged through the snow to the picnic tables.

Even from a distance you could see this not going over very well. The boys looked to be about 14 years old and you could see their faces twist into opportunistic grins. Jae spun to look at you with a nervous smile but when you took a step towards him to help he shook his head and turned his back to you again. He slid a hand into his pants pocket before handing something to the one with his chest all puffed up.

Returning with the rescued sleds, Jae handed you one with a deep sigh.

You were trying not to smile. “Did you…pay those kid-“

“Yes, I was swindled by teenagers. Little extortionists… just take your sled and let me salvage a little dignity.”

You decided to let the boy go without further harassment and tapped his side with the sled in your hands. When he raised his head to look at you, you smiled and reached out to grab his left mitten. His face lit up again and you started up the hill hand in hand.

The two of you spent the next hour or so racing down the hill in the now abandoned park. You won more often than not but that was largely because your date had a strangely difficult time reaching the bottom of the hill still in his sled. He went faster than you but he usually toppled out of his sled halfway down, allowing you to slide right past him to victory. After a particularly messy fall Jae was sprawled across the ground, face down in the snow. He lifted his head to watch you glide past him and coast to an easy stop at the bottom.

“How do you do that every time?!”

You strut over to help him up and shrugged at his question.“There’s no set technique.” You smirked at him as he readjusted his hat and brushed the snow off his jacket. “I’m actually kind of confused by how absolutely terrible you are. It’s uncanny really.”

“It’s this sled! Mine’s defective.” He kicked at the plastic lightly.

“Maybe you’re defective. User error and all that.”

Ignoring your comment he lifted the sled and studied it carefully. Turning it this way and that way before he smiled triumphantly and held it close to your face. “See?! It’s broken!”

Sure enough there was a thin crack on the bottom of the sled. It’s possible the jagged plastic edge was catching the snow and making him fall.

He studied the plastic again and made a face. “The little extortionists broke it.”

Watching him now you noticed how wet his jeans were. He must be freezing. “You look cold anyways. We should probably do something else soon.”

“Well, I have spent a large part of this date with my face in the snow so I am cold but I’m having fun! Let’s go one more time!”

You looked him over in concern. His pants were soaked but he did look really excited. One more time should be okay. Then you thought about the broken sled. “We can go one more time but we’re going to have to share my sled.”

His lips turned up slightly and he nodded at you. “Sounds good. Come on.”

At the top of the hill you set the sled down and sat down in the middle. Trying not to let him see how flustered you were you twisted around to look at him. “Climb on.”

Jae cleared his throat nervously and squatted down behind you. He slid a leg in beside you and then the other in on the opposite side. The sled was small so even with his hips as far back in the sled as he could get he was pressed to your back snugly.

You tried to sound like you weren’t about to pass out. “You better hold on if you don’t want to fall off this time.”

Hesitant hands grazed your sides as he slipped them under your arms and around your waist. His fingers locked together in front of you.

Jae was wrapped around you so snuggly that you could feel the rumble in his chest when he cleared his throat again. The warm air brushed against your face when he spoke. “Okay, I’m good.”

With a last deep breath you reached out on either side and pushed against the snow; launching your sled down the hill. The added weight from Jae actually made your sled go way faster than it had before. The sounds of excitement quickly turned to rapid murmurs of ‘shitshitshitshitshitshit’ when your sled shot past the usual end zone and darted straight towards a large tree. Jae’s arms tightened around your waist as he pulled you close and threw his weight to the side, causing the sled and both of you to topple over into the snow. The momentum from the ride down the hill caused you to roll two or three times, the two of you separating in the fall, but soon enough you came to a stop.

The snow was cold on your back as you laid there looking at the sky, catching your breath. Turning your head to the side you saw your date sit up just a foot away, rustling the snow from his hair. “You are cursed. It’s official. We’re going to have to get you an inner tube. Make you wear a helmet and knee pads.”

Jae stood with a huff and snatched his hat off the ground before heading your way. He helped you up and smiled, “Don’t be so dramatic. No one died. I’d say this was a pretty successful date.”

“That’s your criteria for a good date? Nobody dying? What is the ratio of good dates to bad dates normally? How often are good dates?”

Jae smirked as he picked at the crushed leaves and debris in your hair from the crash landing. “I’d say…75%. Probably.”

“75%?! That’s 3 out of 4 dates. You know what that means right? We can only go on 2 more dates. For my own safety I refuse to ever go on a fourth date with you.”

“I mean that’s not exactly how percentages work but whatever you say…”

He laughed as you shoved him with the flat of your forearm.

“We should head back to the house. You need to change or you’re going to get sick.”

“Right. Wouldn’t want to get sick and turn this good date into a bad one.”

You looked at him and smiled slightly. All the date talk had your cheeks warming up. Jae leaned down and picked up the two thermoses, handing you one. The two of you started back in the direction of the house.

“If it makes you feel better we could just skip the fourth date. Go from third straight to fifth.”

Your smile twisted into a mocking grin. “I mean, that’s not exactly how numbers work but whatever you say…”

“Ah, shut up.”

The sun was beginning to set and the reds and orange colors reflected prettily off of the icy sidewalks underfoot. You could see the house in the distance when you felt an oddly soft pressure on your right hand. Looking down you saw Jae clutching at your hand with his mitten; the glove making it more difficult than he was expecting. When he raised his eyes to look at you it was with a bashful smile and pink cheeks. “See, this would have been a very sweet moment if not for these damn mittens making me look stupid.”

You knew you were blushing but you couldn’t help but smile. You tugged off your right mitten and put it in your pocket before reaching over and tugging off his left and grasping his hand in yours. “You’re such a dork…” you murmured as you continued walking.

When the pair of you were just about to reach the front door Jae stopped walking. You turned to ask what he was doing and stopped when you saw the shy look on his face.

“Before we go inside and have to listen to Michael moan and whine about being alone I just wanted to ask if you had a good time.”

Nodding softly, you beamed at the pink faced man. “Yeah. The part where we almost crashed into a giant tree was cool too. Added some thrill to the evening.”

“Yeah, nothing is quite as thrilling as narrowly escaping death. You’re welcome by the way.”

You stepped closer and narrowed your eyes in suspicion. “For what?”

“Well, if you remember correctly I kind of saved your life.”

“You’re cursed remember? It’s your fault I nearly died in the first place.”

Jae threw up his free arm and scoffed in mock indignation. He turned his head to the left and puckered his lips into a pout. “I save your life and this is the thanks I get? Incredible.”

You felt a surge of something that made you smile and leaned in quickly to press your lips to the corner of his mouth. The peck was short but when you leaned away again you saw the tall man standing there as if he had been frozen solid.

You squeezed his hand once. “Thank you. I had a really good time.”

After a second his eyes started shifting around and he tucked his lips in as the pink shifted to a much stronger red. Bringing a hand up to scratch at the back of his head Jae met your eyes now and beamed at you.

“You’re welcome. I had a lot of fun too.”

You turned back to the house and twisted the knob. Stepping into the house you looked back to speak to the boy shuffling in behind you. “Well, of course you did. You were on a date with me, the funnest person around.”

He looked like he was about to say something snarky but you didn’t get to hear it as Krystal ran down the stairs. She looked really flustered and she was talking really fast.

“Y/N, you left your phone here and Jae doesn’t have a cell phone yet so I couldn’t reach you. I didn’t know where you two went-”

Cutting off her rambling you reached out and grabbed at her shoulders. “Krystal, slow down. What’s wrong?”

She took a deep breath to steady herself. When she raised her head there was sadness swimming in her eyes. She reached up to grab your hands softly.

“Your mom got into a car accident. She’s in the hospital.”


	6. Part 6

(italics are text messages for this chapter)

This room was cold. Only by a few degrees though so it was cold enough to give you chills but not cold enough to use the scratchy blanket that the nurse provided you with. It’s been 4 days now. Your mom was mostly fine but the doctors were keeping her here for monitoring. She’d broken her femur in the crash so they were worried about infections but there weren’t any major complications so it an upcoming discharge was looking likely. She’d need a cast & wheelchair for a while but she was going to be okay.

You tried to get comfortable on the loveseat you’d been pretty much living on for your mother’s hospital stay. She didn’t like being alone and your dad had work so you’d been here since she was admitted. Sitting up you stared out the large window, resting your head on the back of the small couch. It was probably around 10 PM. Giving up on sleep for the moment you stretched towards the bag resting on the floor. Trying to keep an ear open for any changes in your mother’s soft snores you pulled your phone out of the bag and powered it on.

Michael had been sending worried texts every half hour; while you were touched by his concern you’d decided it best for your sanity to turn the device off to save some battery. That’s the excuse you were going to give him, at least. The man was annoying at times but he was a big mother hen underneath all that obnoxiousness.

The phone’s screen lit up and almost immediately began dinging incessantly. You clutched the phone in your hands tightly and hammered on the volume down button to silence it before your mother woke up. The beeps stopped and you held your breath as you listened for any sounds from the woman lying in the cot before you. After a moment of silence, raspy breaths sounded throughout the room and you breathed a sigh of relief. Seems you would live another day.

Flipping the phone over in your hands the first thing you saw was the missed call notifications. 14. Not surprising. Your phone has been on airplane mode for two days. With Michael it’s to be expected.

Unread messages: 30

Tapping on the message icon you saw three unread threads.

Unknown Number: 3

Krystal: 5

Michael: 22

Clicking on Michael’s name you scrolled through the texts. Pretty standard worried messages, the occasional threat on your life if you don’t text back, followed by apologies for said threats. You typed out a quick reassuring text before going back to your message threads and pressing on Krystal’s name.

_K: I’m trying to get Michael to stop bugging you but it’s not looking great._

_K: Jae is egging him on too so there’s that. I’m pretty sure some of those texts aren’t from Michael. These two are driving me insane._

_K: Come home before I murder them._

_K: Wow okay. Michael is bad alone but Jae is just as bad so their combined force is going to put me in prison. Two worried old women walking around this house annoying the crap out of me._

_K: Lover Boy got a phone today and asked me for your number~_

You tapped out of the thread quickly to check the texts from the unknown number, suddenly having an idea who it was.

_?: I got my phone today! How is your mom doing? Is she getting discharged soon? Are you coming back to the house when she does? No pressure or anything I’m just wondering. There’s no one for me to tease with you gone. Michael is too worried to tease, I’d feel like a bully. And Krystal might kill me._

_?: oh yeah it’s Jae btw. the hot guy you went on a date with~_


	7. Part 7

“You told your mother WHAT?!” Krystal’s voice was shrill as she gaped at Michael in aggravated horror.

Michael had his hands raised defensively and his feet shuffled in reverse cautiously. “It’s not a huge deal!” there was a desperate tone to his placating that brought an evil smile to your face. Jae was next to you watching in awe. The two of you were kneeling on the couch cushions peeking at the scene over the back of the couch.

Michael forced a laugh. “It’s kind of funny if you think about it.”

“It’s not funny! Why would you tell her I was your girlfriend?!” her face had grown red now.

The terrified man felt the cool off the wall against his back. The cold contrasting with the heat in his face and the warmth from the sunlight filtering through the windows. Krystal stopped walking to raise a pointed finger.

“Tell her the truth.”

Michael was terrified of Krystal yet still he shook his head fervently. “I can’t! She’s on her way.”

Krystal took another step. Her finger, now shaking in anger, right in his face.

“Tell her!”

Michael slowly raised his hands to softly grasp the angry woman’s fingers before pleading again. “Krystal, please! She’s always nagging at me so I told her we were dating so she would leave me alone. She’s never mentioned coming here before today! Just pretend for one day? I’ll never eat your food again.”

Krystal cut her eyes at him and didn’t speak for a moment. Seemingly mulling the idea over in her head.

Jae leaned over to whisper in your ear. “I hope she’s not buying that crap.”

You laughed for a second before Krystal and Michael both narrowed their eyes at you. Jae and you both lowered your heads to hide deeper in the couch. Raising them again shamelessly once Krystal started to speak.

“How long is she staying?”

Michael’s eyes widened at the sudden glimpse of hope. “Like a day-maybe two– I’m not positive but no more than two!”

Krystal nodded her head slightly before taking a step back.

Michael let out a big breath and lowered his hands.

“If you ever touch my food without asking again I’m going to call her! I swear!”

Michael bobbed his head repeatedly. “Sure! That’s fine…”

Krystal groaned and ran a hand through her hair. Already regretting this decision.

Michael smiled now. Clasping his hands together he smirked at Krystal. “So, while she’s here… we should set up some boundaries for our little tryst.”

The exasperated girl raised her head to glare at him.

“Hand holding is expected. My family is a very affectionate bunch. If she doesn’t see some form of PDA she’ll never believe it. So, prepare yourself for that.”

“I will kill you.” her voice was low and calm. Michael simply ignored her threat.

“Pet names are nice too. I’ll call you babe. You can call me baby if you want.”

Krystal started to protest but Michael cut her off again.

“And the last and most important rule…” he leaned close and tapped her nose with his pointer finger.

“Don’t fall in love with me~”

The two spectators burst out laughing. Krystal stood completely still for a moment. You swear you saw a flush of pink just before she let out another shriek. Michael ran off to avoid the screaming woman’s hands that were grasping at him. He managing to continue his foolish jabbering as he scurried out of reach. “I mean or do! That’s fine too! I didn’t know you felt so strongly about me!!”

You and Jae were still laughing when Michael locked himself into his room.

You were wiping at the tears on your cheeks when Krystal stomped back into the room. She fell into the couch next to you and laid her head on your lap. She buried her face into your stomach and let out another groan.

Jae was holding his stomach and snickering. When you made eye contact he started laughing again. “‘Don’t fall in love with me’" he spoke in a mocking voice between cackles. “Oh God. That was so awful.”

You snickered along with him as you thought about the moment again. Krystal raised her head to glare at the two of you. “Stop laughing!”

It was then that you noticed how red her ears still were. And her cheeks…

“Krystal. Are you…blushing?”

The snickering died out as she stared back at you with wide eyes.

Jae gawked at her then turned to you, mouth agape. “THAT WORKED?”

Krystal scowled and started rambling. “Shu- I-It’s not like- oh fuc- You just shut the hell up.”

You brought a hand up to pat her head. “It’s okay. The cute idiots have a tendency to worm their way in no matter what. Like termites.”

Krystal stood up off the couch. Her head hung low and her steps were heavy. Until she took a deep breath and raised her head sporting a manic smile that sent a shiver down your spine. “This is fine. Temporary lapse in judgement. That’s all. And we will never speak of it again. I’m going to go wallow in despair for a few minutes then I need you to come help me get ready.” With that she turned on her heel and stomped to her room.

At your side Jae was shaking his head. “I cannot believe that that got to her. You guys call her the Ice Queen for crying out loud. Yet one cheesy line and a tap of the nose and she’s a blushing mess.”

“I thought it was pretty cute. Funny. And horribly cheesy. But cute.”

He studied you for a moment before speaking. “For future reference… was it the cheesy line or the nose tap that you thought was cute?”

You narrowed your eyes to peer at him sideways. “Why?”

“I gotta know what my girl likes~“ Jae titled his head as he spoke and gave you a big smile. Immediately you felt warmth blossom across your cheeks.

“Stop that.”

He noted the definite reaction to the cheesy line before continuing. “What? This is important information. Then I know what to do if we fight about anything.” he reached out to grab your hand. Running his thumb along the side, up and down.

You squeezed his hand in yours lightly, giving him a playful glare. “Why? You planning on starting a fight? If we do fight and you tap my nose I’m going to want to hit you.”

Jae nodded his head, grinning. “Duly noted.”

You watched him stare at your entwined fingers and saw his smile falter. His eyes shifted to look at the floor as his thumb stopped moving. His grip on your hand tightened momentarily before he let go completely. Jae cleared his throat before he looked at you again with a faint smile. “You should go help Krystal. Her mother-in-law is coming soon.” he finished with a dry laugh.

You chuckled back but stayed seated. There was something off about his smile. “Are you okay?” your voice was laced with concern.

Jae’s smile grew but there was no light to it. “I’m okay. Just don’t feel great. I think I’m going to go lay down before Michael’s mom gets here. She wants to meet us all, right? I can’t just ditch the dinner?”

“And leave me to face her alone? With the happy couple? No, you can’t.” you smiled.

“That’s fair.” he responded. “Call me down when she gets here.”

Jae walked past you to head up the stairs without another word. Turning towards Krystal’s room you did your best to shake off the concern and worry that you were feeling. He was probably just getting a cold.

—————————————

40 minutes into the dinner with Michael’s mom and you’d counted 5 cheek kisses. Michael was really taking advantage of the situation he’s lucked into. Krystal had looked angry the first time but you and Jae were having a good time watching the Ice Queen grow more and more accustomed to the kisses. She didn’t even look angry the last time.

Michael’s mother was a friendly woman. She’d asked Krystal all about her family and the things she liked to do. Time passed pretty quickly and soon it was time to do the dishes. Krystal immediately stood and volunteered, likely looking for an escape, only to be forced back into her chair by Michael. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. “Babe, I bet my mom still has more questions for you! Y/N, would you mind doing the dishes?” You quickly nodded your head and started gathering the dishes. Eager for an escape yourself. You weren’t sure how much longer you could hold in the laughter.

“Thank you, dear. Now, Krystal. I have another question. I’m a real romantic and I know this is personal but would you mind telling me about the moment you fell for my Michael?” Just as you twisted away and prayed to all the good in the world that she couldn’t see the look on your face there was a loud cacophony back at the table. When you back turned around you saw Jae choking on his water; likely from trying not to laugh. Michael was glaring at him from across the table.

Jae cleared his throat and stood. “Maybe I’ll help you, Y/N.” He was still trying to hold in his laughter when he grabbed your hand and led you into the kitchen.

You emptied the dishes into the sink and he grabbed a rag off the shelf to dry. “That was amazing. Some spy level discreteness. Very smooth, Jae.”

“Oh so we’re pretending that everyone at the table, INCLUDING the guy choking to death, didn’t see the look of utter disgust you tried hiding? Because that’s the only possible way you could be giving me any shit.”

You side eyed the grinning man and flicked some water at him. “A look that I tried to hide is a lot more discrete than that noisy spectacle you made of yourself.”

“My apologies. Next time I start choking I’ll try not to make such a scene.”

“Please do.” you grinned back at him.

He gave your shoulder a light push in response. Laughing again you reached into the sink and splashed some more water his way. Just as he was grabbing for the sink spraying hose the two of you paused when you heard a voice.

“Ah, young love.”

You both turned towards the voice and saw Michael’s mother standing in the door of the kitchen. Her son and Krystal were nowhere to be seen but you were pretty sure you could hear harsh whispering coming from the room down the hall.

Jae set the rag down before walking towards her. “Is dinner finished? Let me get your dishes.”

She handed over her plate and glass. Jae was on his way back to you when she asked, “May I ask how long the two of you have been together? You look so sweet together.”

For the second time that night you watched as his smile fell. His face darkened and his eyes held none of their usual mirth for a few seconds. His eyes shifted to you for a moment before he passed you to drop the dishes in the sink. When he faced the older lady again that dim smile from earlier was there on his face. “Where did the lovebirds run off to? Leaving you here alone.”

She seemed to understand that he was changing the subject. You certainly had. “They ran off to bicker in the room.” She studied the two of you. Narrowing her eyes slightly.

“I know my son thinks he’s clever but I do hope that you two don’t think me so naive as to believe that those two are dating.”

Jae’s mouth clamped shut and all you could do was stare at the lady in the doorway. She smiled at the looks on your faces. “Don’t worry. It wasn’t anything you did. My son is a horrible liar. Always has been. I’m going to keep pretending though.”

Jae shifted slightly in his spot. “May I ask why? If you already know why not just tell him?”

The older woman shook her head and grinned. “Why would I? My boy clearly likes that girl. And judging by the times she’s blushed I would bet she’s starting to like him. I don’t mind playing wingman for one night. I really like her.” she finished with a wink.

The two of were laughing as Krystal and Michael walked back into the dining room. The farce continued on until Michael’s mother finally decided it was time to go home. The moment her car pulled out of the driveway Michael was busy chasing Krystal around the house trying to lessen her anger. Jae announced that he was going upstairs shortly after they started. You tried to settle the two squabbling adults for a few moments before you gave up and headed up the stairs as well. As you stood in front of the door to your bedroom you thought back to Jae’s odd behavior. A part of you kept trying to brush it off. Like you didn’t want to think about it. Another part kept replaying the moment he avoided the question about the two of you being together. It wasn’t like an embarrassed dismissal. It occurred to you now that the two of you had never talked about what was going on between you. Before you had even consciously decided to, you were knocking on his door. Something telling you that this was more than just a cold.

Within a few moments Jae was standing in front of you with a lazy grin. “What’s up?”

You hesitated for a moment. Maybe you were just looking into things too much? You started rubbing your arm nervously and cleared your throat. “I just wanted to ask you about something. You seemed a little… weird today. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Are you homesick or something?” The moment in the kitchen kept replaying in your head. Over and over you saw his eyes darken. He wasn’t embarrassed by the question. What was he feeling in that moment to look that way?

Jae simply watched you fidget for a moment before took a deep breath and shook his head. “No, it’s nothing like that. I just…It’s nothing.”

“Why did you look like that when Michael’s mother asked about us?” you blurted out.

Jae froze.

Your heart sped as you watched him look away from you. You started rambling, regret flooding your body. “I know we haven’t talked about it or anything and I was okay with that but the way you reacted was really odd. You looked…sad. Or something. And you did it earlier too. When we were sitting on the couch.”

Jae didn’t speak for a while. Then he opened the door wider and stepped back. “Here. Come in.”

You walked passed him to the bed and sat down. He followed behind and sat next to you. You watched him get his thoughts together. He took another deep breath.

“Okay. This is going to sound really bad. But before any of that I need you to understand that I care about you. I think you’re funny, and beautiful, and awesome.” He grabbed one of your hands and wrapped both of his around it. His kind words brought no smile to your face; only dread to your heart. “I wasn’t planning on getting into anything like this when I got here.”

You couldn’t handle his placating anymore. “Just get to the point, Jae.”

He watched your face. His eyes pleading and hesitant. “I…can’t be your boyfriend.”

At first all you felt was confusion. “I haven’t asked you to…?”

His grip on your hands tightened as he let out a deep sigh. “I don’t mean right now. I mean…ever. I can’t be in a defined relationship with you.”

You tried to understand his words. “So…what then? You’re ending this?”

His eyes bore into yours with a sad hope. “We don’t have to…” his voice carried like a question. His intonation rang as a hesitant plead. You felt the sadness churn into something else. “As long as you understand that, we can still be together like we have been.”

You tried to pull your hand out of his grasp but he held on tightly. The look in his eyes turning into something frantic and afraid. The anger inside you was nearly equal with the sadness. “So what are you saying? You refuse to be my boyfriend, before I even ask you to be, but we can still mess around? Is that what you want? Did you seriously think that I would be okay with that?”

Jae slid closer to you and pulled your hand into his lap. He spoke fast, trying to make you understand. “No! No, that’s not what I mean! I told you this was going to sound bad. I know it sounds awful.” He scrambled for the right words. “I don’t want to lose what we have right now. I care about you!”

You ripped your hand out of his grasp. “You don’t want to lose what we have…but you want to make sure I know that it’s all we can ever have? Don’t want me to get carried away in fantasies right?”

Jae looked horrified. “No! Y/N, you’re not listening!”

“Tell me this. If you were staying longer…” you felt a little hope swell in your chest. Momentarily overpowering the anger and hurt wrestling in your heart. “Could we be more then?”

His eyes scanned your face desperately. He reached out for your hand hesitantly and flinched when you snatched it away. His shoulders fell before he answered you. “No.”

You stood up off of his bed. Glowering down at him you felt your eyes start to prickle. “I never should’ve asked you about this. Why did you let it get this far? Why did you ask me out?”

“Because I liked you. I like you.” was his only response. His eyes were tired now.

“Yeah. I like you too.” You wiped at a lone tear. “But I’m not sure what you want here. I feel like you just want something to play with while you’re bored.”

Jae started to protest but you weren’t finished. “I know you’re not that kind of person but that is how this situation makes me feel.” You took another deep breath. You had to get out of here. “I need some time. Just leave me alone for a while.”

You turned around and left the room. Jae listened to your door slam and fell back onto his mattress. He hooked his hands together and rested them across his eyes. His company made him promise to keep his job a secret but in that moment he wanted to tell you more than anything. Maybe then you would understand. He wanted to be more to you but he didn’t have a choice.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YOOOOOOO I'M THE WORST EVER Y'ALL. YOU'RE ABOUT TO GET A SHIT TON OF CHAPTERS ALL AT ONCE AND THE END OF THE STORY IS AT THE END SO PREPARE FOR THAT I'M SORRY PLEASE LEAVE SOME FEEDBACK WHENEVER YOU WANT TO. 

“Jae, I’m telling you. You need to give her some time right now or you’re just going to make it worse for yourself.” Krystal’s voice sounded sympathetic but firm. He groaned in response and even through the door you could hear the frustration in it.

“I just want to talk to her. If she would let me explain-”

Krystal’s voice cut in. “To be perfectly honest she told me what you said and it sounds pretty bad. Maybe go think of what you’re going to say and practice so when she does want to hear what you have to say, you don’t dig yourself a deeper hole.”

Your ears perked up at the silence. Krystal had come to your room to complain about Michael last night and found you near tears. She’d listened to the story and stayed with you for the night. And when the two of you were awoken by Jae knocking on the door Krystal had gone to send him off.

“It’s really not what it looks like.” he told her after a few seconds. “I’m not just toying with her or anything like that. I do like her!”

“Save it for her. I’m not picking sides. Makes for a hostile home environment.” At the sound of feet shuffling towards the door you shifted in your bed so it wouldn’t look like you’d been eavesdropping. The steps paused. “If you had been just messing with her I would’ve killed you though. So it’s good to hear.”

You heard Jae speak as she opened the door and slipped into the room. “How is that not picking sides?”

The door clicked shut and Krystal walked over to sit on the edge of the bed.

The sound of feet dragging down the hall told you that Jae had gone downstairs.

“Am I allowed to be honest?”

You sat up and rested your head on your knees, giving her a look. “That depends. Is your honesty mean?”

“That depends. Are you going to be an overtly sensitive baby about it?”

You rolled your eyes and looked away as you responded. “So yes then.”

“I get that you’re hurt by what he said but you need to hear him out. He rambles almost as badly as you do. You should listen to what he has to say without jumping down his throat and if you still don’t like what he says then at least he can’t say you never gave him a chance.”

You groaned and turned to her again. “It was so embarrassing, Krystal! He turned me down when I didn’t even ask him out! He preemptively rejected me.”

Your friend scoffed before narrowing her eyes. “Wait wait wait. Is this about him hurting your feelings or your pride?”

You paused for a moment before glaring at her. “Both. The two are not mutually exclusive! I will admit that my reaction may have been…exacerbated by the level of mortification I felt at him saying he wouldn’t be my boyfriend. But you can’t say that it’s all me! He basically told me that we can’t be anything real or meaningful but we can do all the stuff that those people get to do. And I’m not a child, Krystal. I know there’s a time limit on whatever we are but I asked him and it’s not about time.”

She watched you with sympathy on her face and reached over to touch your hand lightly. “He’s a decent person, Y/N. He’s dorky and sometimes I wanna strangle him but he’s not malicious. You know that. I’m not saying he isn’t wrong but maybe if you listened to what he has to say you could understand better? Just hear him out.”

Your gaze shifted to stare out the window. “Yeah, I guess.”

The blankets tugged underneath you softly as she slid off the mattress. “Besides, if you listen and you still don’t like what he’s saying we can kill him with a clear conscious. No chance of a misunderstanding.” She walked towards the door.

You smiled but didn’t respond. The door clicked shut and let yourself fall backwards. Staring at the ceiling you thought back to last night. To be fair you had kind of jumped down his throat. Once you’d come to the assumption of what he was saying your anger had blocked out his actual words. That combined with the shame you felt made you desperate to get out of that room. It’s possible you’d fled without getting the whole story, that didn’t mean that you weren’t still hurt. Then again, you’d already decided to not worry about titles so why did it bother you so much when he said it? By the time there was a knock at the door you’d already decided that the sweet cheesy guy you’d grown to care for likely had a good reason for this situation. Figuring who it was you just mumbled for them to come in. The door swung open slowly before fluffy tufts of blonde hair peeked through. He kept his eyes lowered as he shuffled into the room. When he got to your bed he stopped. “Is it okay if I sit?”

You didn’t look at him but nodded. The mattress shifted under the new weight and you heard him clear his throat. Finally looking at him you saw his eyes search your face.

“I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn’t want to. This situation is really complicated and I think I panicked.”

You nodded again.

“I want you to understand what I meant though. Is it okay if I try again? It’s really important.”

Looking down you brought your legs in to cross in front of you.

“I like you. I care about you and I don’t want to hurt you. That’s why I wanted to have this talk. I think it’s only right that I’m upfront with you about this so you can choose for yourself what you want to do about it.”

You stared down into your lap where your fingers twiddled nervously. He continued when you didn’t say anything.

“First of all, I didn’t mean to make you feel like I was just using you to pass the time. That’s not what I’m trying to do. I genuinely care about you. I think you’re amazing. It’s just that I got so wrapped up in what was happening between us that I didn’t think about the issues with it.” Jae scooted closer to you. “And I’ve decided now that I still wanna be with you but I have to let you make that decision too. I don’t want you to end up hurt because you’d never thought about the things I’d already decided I’m okay with.”

You raised your head to look at him. He took a deep breath.

“I made a promise that I wouldn’t get into a relationship for a while. So I can focus on my job. I know it might sound ridiculous but it’s not just me that would get in trouble.”

Jae leaned closer. “If it makes you feel better… If I could date you’d be the first person I’d call.”

His cheeks lifted in a grin as raised a hand in the air as if he meant to correct his previous statement.

“Well top two. You’re in the top two.”

Your jaw fell open. You straightened your back to gape at him in complete indignation. “Second?!”

He gave you a smile. “If you don’t think I’d try tweeting Emma Watson you don’t know me at all.”

You felt your cheeks lift into a slight smile and you thought about his limited time here. You were wasting time with him over what you knew was a miscommunication.

Jae reached over to tug your fingers closer until he could wrap his hands around them. “I hope you understand. This is what I meant. I really didn’t plan on this being an issue because I hadn’t expected to like anyone. But of course you just had to ruin my plans.”

You couldn’t help but smile at the boy. “Obviously.”

“So. I can’t be your boyfriend but I can be…your…” His eyes drifted off as he tried to think of an appropriate term.

“My side ho?” you suggested sarcastically.

His gaze snapped back to you through narrowed eyes. “I do have some pride you know.”

You tapped a finger on your chin. “My gentleman caller?”

“Could you please take this seriously. I’m trying here.”

You laughed before giving him a nudge. “If you’re doing this for me you don’t have to. I get what you’re saying. We don’t need a title. I like you and you like me. We know what’s going on and that’s fine.”

Jae smiled at you and gave your hand a squeeze. “So you do still like me then. Good.”

Your eyes took in his features. His slightly messy hair and his soft smile. Even this subdued side of him made you grin. “Unfortunately for me, I do.”

He leaned forward with a smirk. His lips bouncing off yours in a light peck. After the split second of contact he pulled back a few inches, still lingering close to your face. “So, we’re good then?”

You closed the distance this time. Your lips pressed to his with more pressure than his innocent peck, even sliding two hands up the side of neck to hold his face tenderly. After a second or so you pulled away with a smile. “Mostly. We’re mostly good. My pride took a hit and you will pay but for now we’re mostly good.”

Jae’s mouth turned down into a lopsided frown. “Well that’s not ominous at all…”

You returned his frown with a smirk. “Fear not. It’ll probably be harmless and petty.” You slid your hand into his and hopped to your feet. “Come on. Let’s go downstairs.”

You drug the whining man to the main floor to find Krystal and Michael sitting at the kitchen table. Krystal was paging through another magazine doing her best to ignore Michael’s pestering. An average day in the house you’ve come to know as home. You and Jae slid into chairs across from them just as the annoying man started another series of grumbling complaints.

“Krystal, I’m bored… just play a game with me or something. How long are you going to ignore me?”

The stoic girl didn’t even pause in her page scanning to respond. “How about forever? Sound good to you? Because I am loving that idea.”

Michael turned in his chair to give you the pout that Krystal had ignored. “Y/N, you guys wanna play a game or something? I have uno, monopoly, and apples to apples.”

Jae straightened in his seat to give one of his bright smiles. “Uno! Let’s play Uno! I haven’t played in forever.”

“Jae you are my favorite one in the house.” Michael told the excited boy as he glared to the side at Krystal. He got up to scamper towards his room for the cards and Krystal set the magazine down with a huff.

You watched her for a moment, noticing the slight pout, before lifting an eyebrow. She saw the face you were giving her and immediately began defending herself. “Don’t give me that look. I can barely look at him. You hush and let me handle this my own way.” Her eyes shifted between you and Jae. “You two made up quickly.”

Jae beamed from his seat across the table.

“Mostly. It was his wording that messed everything up in the first place. Once we figured that out I wasn’t as upset.”

Jae brought his hands up to sit under his chin, framing his face. “Who could stay mad at this face?”

Michael returned from the hall with his cards then and set them down with just a bit of unnecessary force. “Krystal probably. Seeing as she’s still mad at me even though I have a face just as cute.”

At Michael’s last words Jae looked to you with questioning concern in his eyes. You leaned over and pat his thigh softly. “Your face is much cuter.”

He nodded and grinned smugly before deciding to deal the cards since Michael and Krystal were bickering again.

“I honestly don’t even know why you’re so mad. I’ve apologized for telling her you were my girlfriend. You have to tell me why you’re mad for me to apologize!”

Jae finished dealing. The two of you scanned through the cards in your hands. The light glared slightly on the laminated surface of the two pick 2s, one pick 4, and two skip cards in your hand. Peeking to your right you saw Jae studying his own hand and smirked to yourself. The time for your petty revenge was nigh.


	9. Chapter 9

“Do it again. I dare you. I’ll bite it off.” The threat was clearly directed at you but his eyes were still on the television. It’s been 45 minutes since he had thrown down his hilariously immense stack of cards and stormed away from the table.

You poked his cheek again. “Jae~” You snatched your hand away from the loud clack of his teeth closing just centimeters away from your finger. Deciding for a safer route you tugged softly on the sleeve of his thin sweater. “Jae, it was just a game… and I warned you my revenge was coming and that it was going to be petty.”

He scoffed and turned his head even further away from you; staring out the window on the far wall of the living room. Your eyes slid from his face to the exposed skin of his neck and you felt a sinister grin tugging at your lips. Quickly looking out the front windows you saw that Krystal’s car was still gone. She had left for a grocery run and Michael had insisted on coming along, much to Krystal’s dismay. You had some time.

Deciding to test the waters first, you ran your fingers down his forearm to his hand. Grabbing and lifting it with one hand you drug your nails across the back of his hand lightly. Back and forth, with just enough pressure so he could feel it; not enough for it to hurt at all. Like a tickle. Sneaking a glance at the pouting man you saw that he was watching you out of the corners of his eyes. He must have noticed you were looking at him because he turned his head back towards the window with a huff. Exposing even more of his long neck.

_Mistake._

Leaning into his side you pressed your lips to the skin above the collar of the dark blue sweater and immediately felt his body stiffen. Smiling against him you kissed just above the spot you started with. You felt him swallow under your lips. He started muttering quietly. “This is definitely cheating… I call bullshit on this whole damn operation.”

You continued trailing kisses up the side of his neck slowly. Still holding his hand in your lap.

“Some kind of evil con-woman… dirty tricks…”

His mumblings were getting less coherent the higher up his neck you got. Now you were just below his ear. Smiling to yourself you pressed your lips to the spot behind his earlobe, against the base of his ear, and closed your eyes. Letting your mouth linger there as Jae let out a deep breath.

You felt the smooth warmth against your lips pull away then but was quickly replaced as Jae leaned in and kissed you. His entire body was shifted to face you and you felt him guiding you back. Following his lead you felt the soft cushions of the couch underneath your shoulders. Never breaking the kiss Jae followed you back, soon leaning over you, supporting himself with one arm. He kept his body hanging above yours, careful of where he was touching you. You raised your hands to hold his sides. His mouth moved against yours as his free hand slid up to the side of your face. He ran his thumb back and forth behind your ear before sliding it into your hair to cradle your head. Jae kissed the left corner of your lips before trailing his lips down the side of your face, much like you had, chastising you quietly between kisses. “Some grade A  **bullshit** … completely unfair.”

Turning your head to give him better access to your neck your right hand skimmed along his spine, coming to rest on the back of his head. Your left hand left his side to clutch at his back. Your head was spinning. Your breaths were rushed. Jae pressed an especially wet kiss to the spot behind your ear and you huffed out a breathy sigh; bending your left leg slightly to rub against the front of his jeans. A huge puff of air hit your ear as Jae let out a sound almost like an exasperated laugh. You froze for a moment, noticing his kisses had stopped. His head hung loosely in the crook of your neck; his heavy breaths hitting your collarbone. Jae started to chuckle quietly after a few seconds. “We should probably stop. Every time we start something like this Michael shows up like some kind of demon and they’re due back anytime now.”

You surprised both of you when you responded with a frustrated groan. Jae snickered before giving your cheek a light peck and rolling off the couch onto the ground. He sprung to his feet and started towards the stairs, tugging on the fabric at the front of his pants. You twisted around to watch his first steps up the stairs. “Where are you going?”

He didn’t even bother to look at you when he replied, his ears turning a bright shade of pink. “Shower. Cold one. Don’t look at me.”

——————————————————-

Krystal and Michael had come back 5 minutes later so it was probably a good call for the two of you to stop. Lord knows when Michael would have stopped nagging you if your little love fest had progressed any further and he walked in on it.

The four of you were watching a movie now, Krystal and Michael shared the couch. Their sides touching slightly. While Jae and you were left to share the love seat to the right of them. He had an arm around your shoulders; the limited space had you so close you felt his chest against the right half of your back. He’d been especially affectionate since this afternoon and you didn’t mind. It was sweet. He was sweet. He made you feel like he just wanted to be near you, not like he was trying to escalate it.

Jae rested his head against the side of yours with a content hum. After a few moments you heard soft snores blowing past your right ear.

“Jae.” you whispered. No response.

“Jae.” This time he mumbled something in response. Still unconscious though.

You pulled your head away for a split second and bounced it back against his temple lightly.

His voice was thick with sleep. “Stop bullying me.”

You couldn’t help but snort. “Don’t fall asleep. I want to watch this with you.”

He nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck sleepily. “Let me take a nap. 20 minutes.”

You tried to pull away. “It’s 9 PM. It’s not a nap past 5. Everyone knows that.”

He wrapped long arms around your torso; trapping your arms against your sides. “Sit still. 30 minutes.”

“You said 20!”

No response anymore. Just soft snores.

You smiled to yourself as you adjusted in his arms. Cheeks lifting even more when his grip tightened as you wiggled around. Just as you’d gotten comfortable you felt eyes on you. Following the feeling you saw Krystal watching the two of you with a peculiar expression. Her brow was furrowed but her eyes carried more worry than disapproval. She must have felt your gaze because soon enough she stood and gestured for you to follow her. When you tried to stand Jae rustled behind you, mumbling something about ‘escaping’. You turned to give his cheek a light peck to placate the sleepy man. His mouth turning to a goofy grin as his arms slid away from you.

When you entered the kitchen, Krystal was leaning against the counter. You walked over to join her, still unsure of what she wanted to talk about. She cleared her throat before breaking the silence with a voice laced with slight uncertainty.

“You look really happy with him.”

Smiling again you looked into the living room and saw Jae sprawled sloppily across the loveseat. His long legs dangling off of the arm of the much too small piece of furniture.

“He’s alright.” Was your response.

“Y/N you know I love you like my own sister right?” Krystal was staring at the ground.

Foreboding stirred in your heart at her uncharacteristically hesitant tone. “Yes?”

“And I love that you’re happy. I think Jae is awesome. He’s perfect for you honestly.”

You watched her shuffle her left foot back and forth nervously. “Thank you…?”

She looked up at you; brow furrowed still. “But I just feel like someone needs to remind you that he’s only here for a month. Tomorrow marks one week till he leaves. You know that right?”

You felt your face tense. So many different emotions sprung free in your chest. Anger. Of course you knew. You weren’t an idiot. You’d been keeping track subconsciously. Though you tried your best not to think about it. Why was she reminding you? Shock. One week was so little time. He was going to leave. The realization of something you’d been avoiding crashing down on you suddenly. But underneath it all was sadness. He was going to leave for the other side of the planet in just seven days. You’d had best friends move one state over simply to drift away and out of touch. What hope did you have to stay in touch with a boy you met 3 weeks ago?

Krystal reached over to touch your sleeve. Your silence causing more worry in the girl who’d become one of your best friends. “Y/N… I just didn’t want you to get blindsided. I think it’s important that you keep it in mind, you know?”

You tugged your sleeve out of her hand. Scowling at the girl next to you. “I know. I’m not sure why you felt the need to tell me when I’m just sitting there trying to enjoy it. Are you going to remind me every time you see me enjoying my oh so little time with him?” You knew she meant well. It wasn’t her fault. She was just looking out for you. She must have known you knew too because she didn’t get mad or defensive. Krystal simply stood and walked back into the living room. Giving your shoulder a light pat as she strut passed.

As soon as she left the room your breath rushed out of you in a harsh sob. Your shoulders fell and the scowl you’d been wearing like some kind of armor crumpled away. Bracing yourself against the counter you tried to steady your breathing. One week. That’s all you had left with him.

You turned towards the living room. Arms holding firmly onto the counter behind you. Jae snorted as he readjusted on the cramped love seat. Michael threw a couch pillow at him from across the room. Reprimanding the unconscious man for snoring.

 

One more week with that lanky dork. And even though you were smiling it didn’t stop the tear you felt sliding down your cheek.


	10. Chapter 10

The sun was cascading through the thin fabric of your curtains. The distant song of a bird chiming through the cracked window. It was such a beautiful day outside… and there you were sprawled on your stomach across the bed. Shaking out a finger cramp from the never ending scrolling of this lazy Tuesday.

“What is happening to the world?” You muttered as you quickly scrolled past a meme that would make your mother cry.

The door swung open, bouncing off the wall with a quiet bang, and in trudged an exhausted Jae.

“Hard day?” You asked the boy shuffling towards you.

“Mhmm.” Was the only answer you got before he flopped down onto mattress, crushing you under a warm mess of long arms and legs.

“You mind?!” You said as you did your best to slide out from underneath him. Jae shifted slightly off your back to press closely to your side. When you attempted to pull further away a hand snaked around your waist to pull you closer until he had you flush against the front of his body. Tucked into his chest you felt your cheeks warm at the intimacy of your position. Your face was hidden from his eyes, burrowed in his shirt. He had a hand rubbing circles on your back, the other arm under your head like a pillow.

“Practice was rough today. I need you to baby me.” His voice was gravelly and you could feel the vibrations in his chest against your cheek.

Shifting slightly you adjusted to put less weight on his arm and nodded. With your agreement his hold on you loosened and a content sigh blew against your hair as he adjusted himself to prime snuggling position.

Krystal’s words rang out in your mind as Jae hooked a leg around your ankle. Tangling his legs in yours. He was so comfortable with you now. And you were happy about that but part of you wondered if the two of you weren’t getting too wrapped up in the happy fog of a new relationship without considering the impending sadness hanging over the two of you like a storm. It was going to be so hard to say goodbye. You felt your eyes prickle and burrowed into the soft fabric of his shirt. The salty liquid leaving dark spots on the grey material.

Jae’s even breathing paused before he cleared his throat apprehensively. “Uh Y/N…? Are you…drooling on me? Because I have a thing about drool-” his words died out in his throat as he pulled away and saw the tears smeared across your face. His face froze as he tried to process the situation, quickly shifting from confusion to horror.

“Did I hurt you when I was on top of you?! Are you okay? I’m so sorry I was just playing! We don’t have to cuddle! I’m such an idiot. A huge gangly idiot.” His hands fluttered over your limbs; checking for any sign of injury.

You smacked his hands away lightly, chuckling at his horrified face. “I’m fine.” His face made the switch back to confusion as he settled back down on the mattress. He was propped up on an elbow watching you get readjusted back onto your pillows when you continued, voice quivering only slightly. “I’m just really going to miss you when you leave.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. As you dabbed at the tears with your sleeve you peeked in his direction. His lips were thin and his eyes carried a tumultuous sea of emotions. For a few seconds he just watched you, eyes scanning over your features. Then he cracked a sad grin.

“Yeah. I mean I’ve been trying not to think about that but go ahead and bring up the sad stuff while I’m trying to relax. By all means.”

You cut your eyes at the smirking man. A gesture he returned with a theatrical huff. “Selfish.”

“Oh okay. Lemme just get up then and let you relax.” Your voice edged with a quiet threat as you started to get up off the bed.

“You know I’m kidding!” He blurt out as he clutched at your shirt, trying to pull you back to him and his seemingly ever present grin.

Once you’d both gotten comfortable again you were lying on the mattress, facing each other. His hand in yours as you mindlessly fiddled with his long fingers. His other hand playing with the ends of your hair softly. Neither of you had spoken for a while. Too busy simply enjoying the other’s presence.

Jae broke the silence first. His voice scratchy and rough. “I’m going to miss you too.”

You didn’t respond for fear of crying again. You just listened.

“A lot.”

You started twirling your pointer fingers around his thumb to distract yourself from the tingling behind your eyes.

“I wish we didn’t live so far apart… We could always try the long distance thing?”

As much as it sucked you shook your head. “Those never work for me. They just end up delaying the end until we hate each other. You can’t date anyways, Jae.”

“That’s true. So, what do we do?” There was a pause now. One heavy with hesitation. “Are we just gonna… break up?”

“I think that’s really the only way this could go, Jae. You can’t date there. We only get to do this because you’re on the other side of the planet. And I live here. My family is here.”

Jae rested his chin on your head. Pulling you into his chest again.

“Yeah. I understand. I’ll miss you though.”

Doing your best to lighten the mood you decided to tease him a little. “So uhhh… after you leave…that means we’re free agents right?”

Jae slid his chin off your head to glare at you through narrowed eyes. “Uhm…excuse me?”

“Well, I just mean that when you leave and we are technically broken up that means we’re free to date other people, right?”

Jae suddenly flung his arms and legs around you tightly and squeezed. “Never. You can never love again after I leave. I want you to be alone forever like a nun.” He started nuzzling his head into the crook of your neck, sprinkling kisses along your collarbone causing you to giggle and twist. A particularly violent spasm sent one of your arms flailing. Smacking Jae on the side of his head. “Truce! Truce! Always with the violence!!”

Laughter bounced off the walls; cleansing the air that had been thick with sadness. After the two of you took a moment to compose yourselves, Jae grabbed your fingers again. Slightly somber now. “Nah. As cheesy as this sounds I just want you to be happy…”

You smiled at him and squeezed his fingers. He nodded once before giving your nose a light peck. “After an appropriate grieving period of course.”

“Grieving period?! And how long would you consider an appropriate grieving period?”

Jae looked pensive for a moment. “…two years? Three?… I’ll get back to you.”

“Oh god.”

“Hey, this is totally fair. I’m going to be held to the same rules. Fair play.”

“You better.”

He chuckled at your pouting and rolled onto his back. Watching the ceiling fan go around and around. “Hey, Y/N. You wanna go on another date? Like a real one where I plan something besides watching a movie on the living room couch?”

A loud snort was your initial response. “Yeah okay. Sounds good.”

“Yeah? Okay! Tomorrow! The snort did irreversible damage to my confidence and I’ll never forgive you but it’s a date.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys! I've got the whole story written out so I'm gonna post up all the pieces in the next few days probably!!


	11. Chapter 11

“I don’t mean to be an ass before our date has even started, Jae, but if we don’t get there in the next 5 minutes there’s a very real chance you won’t survive.” As you cut your eyes to the side you saw Jae’s shoulders shake with mirth as he watched the gps for directions. The two of you had been driving for nearly an hour now. Leaving the city behind you were now whizzing past forests of pine trees and rural farm houses; you were no longer in familiar territory.

“We’re almost there. Less than 5 minutes according to the gps.” His eyes now scanned the horizon for their destination. “Just keep going straight and it should be on the right…”

In the distance there was only more trees. And a cow or two. “What kind of date happens in the woods, an hour from home? This is starting to feel like the beginning of one of those crime solving shows. The good looking boy lures the girl away from home…” when you peered to the passenger seat he was watching you with amusement in his eyes. “Where no one will hear her screams…”

“Listen. Only one of us in this car has brought up or thought of murder today. Twice, even! And it wasn’t me.” His easy smirk warped into a wide smile as your car crested a large hill, revealing a valley bathed in the twinged light of a setting sun and a limitless sea of evergreens. “It’s there! Turn into that road!”

When the car came to a stop you took in your surroundings as Jae climbed out of the car like a kid at an amusement park, tripping over his own feet in the scramble. The evergreens hung low weighed down by the snow that seemed to have sat undisturbed for a very long time. The trees wrapped around the clearing, completely shielding it from the road and anything but the small frozen lake in the distance. There in the center of the clearing was a beautiful log cabin that looked like it was out of a post card. A wrap around porch on both the first and second floors; knobby wood used for the railings. Off the side of the building a cute bench swing sat under a little wooden roof. Stepping out of the car you heard the soft crunch of the snow under your boot as you scanned the clearing for any sign of Jae. Suddenly the cabin before you hummed to life. Warm yellow light spilled from large glass windows and strings of Christmas lights twinkled across the railings, painting the snow with a rainbow of color. Jae jogged from behind the house, hopping down the front step with long strides, to crash into you. He pulled you close to his chest as the two of you took in the beautiful scene.

“Pretty nice, huh?” Tearing your gaze from the house you saw the smirk on his lips.

“This is gorgeous, Jae. How did you find it? Where are we?”

You felt his warm hands lock together on the small of your back before he answered. Light chuckles vibrating in his chest. “Michael’s family owns it. Dude’s rich. Like crazy rich. I think his mom is in the mafia…”

Slapping his chest lightly you immediately pictured the sweet woman who came to visit dressed in a black suit with a small gun hidden in her handbag.

His smile split even wider as he looked at you with wide eyes. “I’m serious! They pay someone to come out here and smooth out the ice on the lake! That’s some mafia money, babe.”

“How can you say that about that sweet old woman?!”

“It’s always the quiet ones. That’s why I have such a loud and boisterous personality. Makes me more trustworthy. Basic social science, really.”

You snorted before stepping out of his embrace, reaching for a hand instead. “Boisterous huh? I think loud would have sufficed.” Ignoring the pout he was sporting you started to walk towards the cabin but a soft jerk had you spinning back into Jae’s arms. Looking up you saw the goofy boy wagging a finger at you and shaking his head.

“Not yet, we still have things to do before it gets dark.”

“Aw, come on Jae! It looks like a Hallmark card!” Your hungry eyes spotted a huge fridge through one of the windows.

His only response was to drag you back towards the car and reach into the backseat, quickly pulling out a set of shoes and dangling them before you. Ice skates.

“Ice skating? Jae, if you wanted me to embarrass myself we could have done that without the shoes with literal blades on the bottom.” He jerked them your way before reaching in and grabbing a set for himself.

—————-

It took 20 minutes for the two of you to finally make it to the lake even though it was a short walk from the cabin. Due entirely to Jae’s fretting about ‘proper winter attire’. Which apparently meant not only warm but fashionable. So when you finally reached what would be the shore, the sky was a tapestry of pinks and orange; a low sun clinging to the horizon.

“Gotta look good for our date~”

“You spent 15 minutes looking for that red beanie.” you grumbled as you sat down to slide the ice skates on.

“Uh yeah. But I look good as hell, now don’t I??”

Snorting as you tried to stand, you quickly realized what a truly flustering evening you were in for when you almost immediately tumbled forward to land in the snow on your hands and knees.

“A true swan, baby. That’s what you are.”

Shooting a glare over your shoulder you were slightly dismayed to see him standing tall and sturdy in his skates. “How are you good at this? With those lanky legs of yours, I assumed you’d be falling all over the place…”

“Excuse you. I am an  **athlete**. Damn near pro at badminton. And they aren’t lanky, they’re long. Like a model.” He reached down to help you stand and did his best to lead the two of you to the ice. When he noticed your hesitance he clambered out on to the ice ahead of you, holding your hand firmly. Turning around he gave you a soft smile and a light tug.

“I’m going to fall.” You watched his feet, frozen to your spot of somewhat stability.

His eyes were soft as he grinned from the ice. “Most definitely. But I’ll catch you. Or try. Probably just fall with you.”

Your eyes cut to his face. “Don’t laugh when I fall.”

“No promises.”

Scowling at the smiling man you took a cautious step onto the ice. Surprising both of you with the successful first step you took another, then another. Soon enough the two of you were at least 5 feet from the edge. Noticing how far out you were a sudden concern made you cling onto Jae’s arm in fear. “Jae, are we supposed to be this far out? What if the ice isn’t thick enough?”

“Don’t worry. I asked Michael and he said that the lake is surprisingly shallow and it freezes thick enough for trucks to drive all the way across.” He peeled your hand off his arm and intertwined your fingers and his own before skating ahead; towing you behind. After a minute you began pumping your legs in time with his and making your own strides. Gaining a bit of confidence you released your death grip on Jae’s hand and managed to skate on your own for a few minutes. Jae watched you from behind, smiling at the way your knees shook slightly. Soon enough, you felt the familiar shift in your balance before your feet starting sliding around wildly and you began sputtering obscenities. Unfortunately for Jae he was skating close by and in proper Y/N style you grabbed at him frantically, ultimately pulling him down to the ice with you. Landing with a crash you ended up on your back, eyes on the puffy clouds drifting above. Jae was sitting with one leg stretched out before him, which he poked at you after catching his breath.

“You had to take me down with you?”

“Course. If we’re together that means you suffer with me.” After a moment of silence you nudged him with your knee. “It also means you have to sit here with me while I catch my breath.”

“That’s fair.” He scooted over to sit closer and watched you without comment for a moment before speaking again. “You know, that fall was very reminiscent of the first time we met.”

Your face scrunched in confusion as you pulled yourself into a sitting position to face him. “That was my dad, dork.”

His eyes twinkled for a second before he nodded slightly. “Poor wording on my part. I meant the first time I saw you. We didn’t meet till later, technically.”

Confused still you just stared at him as he giggled. He leaned forward so that his face was about a foot from yours and watched his mischievous grin grow as he recalled the tumble he had in mind. “I was just standing there, freezing near to death, saving a parking spot for my cousin. Who was pregnant, might I add! I was being a good cousin! A gentleman! And this girl walks out of the doors to the mall.”

Memories swam in your head, realizing a month later that he had been watching you from the moment you’d left the mall. His eyes shined, a playfullness sparkling in those dark irises. “I thought to myself, ‘What a cute girl. Bundling up like that, she must be cold. Wow she looks cool. I hope she sees that patch of ice…’” you felt your cheeks heat up as you realized what he was talking about. A moment of grace that you’d forgotten about completely. “and then that cute girl started to slip and swear like a 45 year old sailor.” Jae had to pause as he couldn’t stop laughing enough to communicate. “And then- and then you looked around for witnesses like some kind of criminal!”

“You saw that?!” your face burned with redness. Jae was cackling in front of you, holding his stomach.

“Imagine my surprise when she comes strutting up to me in a huff and starts calling me names 15 minutes later.” Jae finished, wiping at tears. “Space goggles. Steve Erkel.”

Reaching across to smack at the top of his head you attempted to stand, Jae quickly hopped up to help once he noticed. The two of you glided over to the edge of the lake and switched into the boots you’d worn down here. Jae continued his version of events, sparing no details. Even when you begged.

When you entered the clearing the sun was down; leaving the house and the moon as the only sources of light in sight. The colorful lights could be seen even from the lake.

“Why do they still have the lights up?” You wondered aloud.

“Apparently Michael likes them so his mother keeps them up year long.”

“Michael is babied by his mother? Unsurprising.”

Jae held the door open for you. A grin plastered across his smug face. “I’m not one to brag.” He ignored the snorting sound you made. “But I think I might have found the perfect date spot.”

The inside of the cabin was cozy; with big fluffy couches and a small kitchen off to the side. There were blankets set out on a love seat in the corner. A wooden staircase along the wall led to a second story walkway lined with doors to what you assumed to be the family bedrooms.

“Oh! I forgot our stuff.” Jae grabbed the keys out of your jacket and scurried back to the car. Returning with a large blanket and two pillows, along with a bag of your favorite snacks. “I asked Michael and Krystal what kind of snacks you liked and grabbed a bunch.”

As you started to pick through the bag you suddenly came to a realization concerning the rest of the things in his arms.

“Are we sleeping here?”

There was a quick flash of what looked like panic in his wide eyes. “I mean that was the plan… i-if you don’t want to we can go back to the house. I just thought it would make sense.”

Smirking as you tapped the blanket tucked under his arm you tried not to laugh at the growing blush along his cheeks. “One blanket?”

The redness quickly spread to the tips of his ears as his rambling burst forth again. “I promised you a date off of the couch. There are beds upstairs and Michael said we could use the master bedroom because it’s the only full sized mattress.”

You watched him squirm for a minute before nodding once. “Okay. We’ll use that one. Now let’s put this stuff away. Anything else in the car?”

Jae smiled before setting the bags on the counter; quickly running out to grab a few more things. His guitar, a few movies, and more snacks included. When he returned you grabbed the snacks and followed after him towards the staircase. “Rooms up here. It’s the one right in front of the stairs, according to Michael. We should watch a movie or something while we eat.”

At the top of the stairs you reached an arm around Jae to crack open the door after watching him struggle to juggle the movies and his guitar. “Why did you bring your guitar?”

He tossed the movies onto the large bed before setting the guitar down like it was made of glass. “Uh a little thing called romance, Y/N. Look it up. What kind of dream date doesn’t have a serenade in it?”

“One that’s not cheesy.” you mumbled under your breath.

“Incorrect, sweet lady. A shitty one is the proper answer.” He spun around to face you with a huff. “Let’s go put the pizzas in the oven. I’m wasting away.”

“Pizzas? Plural?”

“Yeah. One for me, one for you, and one in case we’re still hungry.” He said as he walked past you towards the hall.

“You say that like it’s the most normal thing…”

—————-

“How much longer?” You could feel the puppy dog pout he was sending your way from his end of the couch. One you fully intended to ignore.

Sliding the phone out of your pocket you noticed the notifications across your screen as you checked the time. “5 minutes.” Tuning out the loud whines you tapped on the message from Michael.

Typing a quick “No promises” reply you turned off the notifications for this conversation and tapped Krystal’s name.

Deciding the best way to handle this one was to simply ignore it you set down your phone just as the timer on the oven went off.

After attempting to keep Jae from grabbing the pizza with his bare hands and insisting he waited for it to cool you managed to get the two of you back upstairs with no injuries.

You were fiddling with the disconnected DVD player when you heard the light strumming of a guitar. When you looked over your shoulder Jae had his eyes closed; face full of over dramatic suave.

“It’s time for the highlight of the evening. A serenade from renowned musician, Jae Park.” With a slow and corny strum of the chords he gave you a bright smile. “Before my hands get all greasy from the pizza.”

You rose from your spot in front of the television and made your way to the bed where he was waiting. “The romance of it all.”

“Hush and let me do my thing before I charge you for it.”

You watched him tweak the tuning keys you realized once again how fond of him you really were. He was a grade A dork but he was also one of the sweetest people you knew. Definitely helped that he was absolutely adorable. Taking a moment to take in the curves and edges in his face you heard him start to sing a familiar song.

> _Car is parked, bags are packed, but what kind of heart doesn’t look back  
>  At the comfortable glow from the porch, the one I will still call yours?_
> 
> _…._
> 
> _All I have, all I need, she’s the air I would kill to breathe_  
>  Holds my love in her hands, still I’m searching for something  
> Out of breath, I am left hoping someday I’ll breathe again  
> I’ll breathe again  
> Open up next to you and my secrets become your truth  
> And the distance between that was sheltering me comes in full view  
> Hang my head, break my heart built from all I have torn apart  
> And my burden to bear is a love I can’t carry anymore  
> All I have, all I need, she’s the air I would kill to breathe  
> Holds my love in her hands, still I’m searching for something  
> Out of breath, I am left hoping someday I’ll breathe again  
> It hurts to be here  
> I only wanted to love you  
> It hurts to be here  
> What am I gonna do?  
> All I have, all I need, she’s the air I would kill to breathe  
> Holds my love in her hands, still I’m searching  
> Out of breath, I am left hoping someday I’ll breathe again  
> I’ll breathe again

When the music faded out you heard a sniffle. Jae lifted a sleeve to drag under his eyes. “Jae. Are you…crying?”

He raised his head to glare at you, distinct redness rimming his eyes. “I am a modern man of the 21st century. I am not afraid of my feelings.” He sniffled again, wiping at his eyes once more. “And no I’m not crying. I’m just almost crying. Which doesn’t count.”

You slid across the sheets to hold his face in your hands. Feeling your own eyes prickle when you saw the small pools of tears about to fall. “You’re such a dork. Stop it.”

Jae reached up to catch your hand in both of his. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m gonna miss you too. Your serenade was really nice though. I loved it.”

He smiled down at your hands, running his thumb along your palm. “Oh so now it’s not corny?”

“It definitely was but it was still nice. Things can be both. Especially when they involve you.” You said with a soft peck to his nose.

“I am a highly complex and interesting person so that makes sense.” He looked at you, lopsided smirk contrasting the red rims around his warm eyes.

Reaching down you slid the plate of pizza towards the edge of the bed and leaned forward to press your lips to that infuriating grin. Why is he always smirking like that. As if he could read your mind you felt Jae smile into the kiss and you let out a frustrated groan. This kids smart ass ways were going to get him in trouble one day. The thought brought an idea to mind. You sat up on your knees, never breaking contact with him, and swung a leg over his lap to straddle his hips. The smirk faltered immediately and you peeked at him to see wide eyes staring back. Now it was you smirking under eyes swimming with mischief and lust. His hands slid up your sides to hold your waist.

When you drug your lips over to his jaw he complained in a breathy whine. “You’re some sort of sadist aren’t you? Always using this…kind of stuff to mess with m-me.”

You snickered quietly into the underside of his jaw when he leaned back to give you better access. “It’s just so much fun though~” you leaned to the side to get to the spot behind his ear that you knew would get him but the moment your lips made contact his leg jerked suddenly and you heard a loud clatter behind you. Sitting back to rest on his thighs you turned to see where the commotion came from to see pizza slices scattered across the wooden floor.

“ **MY PIZZA.** ”

You swiveled back to see Jae staring at the overturned plate in horror. “Y/N I might actually cry now. Honestly.”

Your head dropped into the hollow of his neck with a sigh as you swung your leg off the bed to patter over to the entertainment center where your plate was sitting. “Here. We can share. There’s still that whole other pizza downstairs.”

“See? I knew it was a good plan to make more than one.”

“Yeah yeah.” you muttered as you laid down near the end of the bed and grabbed for the remote.

“Are we gonna watch a movie now?” you heard a strange twinge in his voice and when you looked at him he was rubbing the back of his neck shyly. “I kind of ruined the mood huh?”

You smiled before tugging his arm so he fell to the mattress beside you. “Yeah I don’t feel like messing around after you only  **almost**  cried at the idea of leaving me but would actually cry over a wasted pizza.”

“Pizza is an international delicacy.”

“Besides, I was warned not to ‘taint’ this cabin.” You finished with a snort. Michael’s texts bringing a smile to your face.

“Fair enough. So, what are we watching?”

——–

After two pizza’s and two and a half movies the two of you were getting ready for bed. Jae tossed you a pair of sweats he brought for you to use as pajamas and when you left the bathroom he was already changed into a pair of shorts and a loose tshirt. The two of you got into the bed easily enough, both of you too tired for bashfulness at this point. You grabbed one of his arms and laid your head on his bicep before wrapping one of your own around his waist. You felt a rumble of laughter in his chest. “Just help yourself to my body why don’t you? I’m not a throw pillow.”

“Why? You don’t wanna cuddle? Gotcha I’ll-” Your attempt to untangle yourself from him was interrupted by his arm pulling you closer to him with a huff.

“So sensitive…” he grumbled into your hair.

You laid there for a while. Listening to the sound of his heart, the sounds of his even breaths slowly getting more and more relaxed. You found yourself wishing you could memorize everything about him. Even these things. You looked down at his hand rubbing back and forth on your arm and then up to get a better view of his face. Full lips and soft rounded nose. The realization that after just a few days you’d have to say goodbye hit you for the hundredth time. Overcome with a flurry of emotion you raised a hand to touch the corner of his mouth. When he turned to you you took in the colors of his eyes, the shape, and soon you saw a beautiful mix of emotions spinning there reflecting your own. When he leaned in your eyelids fluttered to a close; you spent the rest of your night memorizing everything you could about this beautiful boy. Michael’s warning falling on deaf ears.


	12. Chapter 12

The porch light was shining brightly when the car finally pulled into the familiar driveway. The moon was high in the sky as your drowsy companion practically fell out of the car. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes Jae’s voice was thick when he spoke.

“What time is it?”

Your steps were heavy as you shuffled towards the front door. The soles of your shoes never entirely leaving the ground as you trudged through the yard. “Late. Leave the stuff, we’ll come get it tomorrow.”

“Wait for me.”

You paused in your sluggish trek until you felt arms wrap around your waist and the weight of his head resting on your shoulder. With your eyes half shut the two of you waddled to the door; too tired to complain about his needy behavior making walking even more difficult. The frost coating the doorknob melted under the warmth of your touch as you pushed into the house. The living room was dark before you; the only light emanating dimly from the television. As your eyes scanned the room searching for a viewer of this forgotten film and it’s 80’s rock soundtrack you came across a scene that made you freeze on the spot. Only a few seconds passed before a quiet, “Ohmygod” signaled to you that Jae had also spotted the sleeping duo currently entangled on the couch.

You let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a cough before you fumbled around in your jacket pockets. Jae gave you a quizzical look when he noticed your scrambling.

“Well we gotta take a picture, Jae. They ruined our first kiss! Now I have a chance to give them shit and I am just petty enough to take it.” You tugged the device out of your back pocket and shortly after a bright flash of light illuminated the dark room. Michael lifted his head drowsily. Blinking in the dark before his eyes focused on you grinning down at him. A moment of simple confusion showed on his face until Krystal nestled closer to his side; tucking her head deeper into the couch cushions. Then the two of you had the spiteful joy of watching a deep blush cover his usually smug face. Michael waved a hand forcefully in your direction.

“Go away before she wakes up!” he harshly whispered from the couch.

Your face twisted into a sneer. “Nah I don’t think I will. I’m really feeling an 80’s classic movie night. How about it, Jae? We can make this little love fest a double date!” You attempted to make your way to the couch and force yourself into the little space left when Jae grabbed onto the back of your sweater. Seemingly tuning out your protests he made his way up the first couple of steps before you gave in and followed behind him without needing to be dragged. You saw Jae smile back at Michael before he was out of sight. When the two of you were on the second floor he released his hold on your sweater before pressing a light kiss to the crown of your head. “Goodnight.”

“You had to ruin all my fun? Imagine Krystal’s face!”

Although he was probably already strewn across the mattress you heard his low grumble through the thin walls. “Tomorrow. Everything tomorrow. Sleep now.”

You resigned yourself to your room with a silent promise to get your revenge come morning….or late afternoon. Depending on when you woke up.

————————————-

The days after your return were hard for all of you. Most of you. Really just you. Seeing your roommates and closest friends in their own shameless, vile, little world of new love was such a strong contrast to the dynamic the three of you had cultivated before Michael won the cosmic lottery and got Krystal to fall for his charms that it left you stunned and slightly disoriented. You were happy for them and she was still the same snarky cool woman you knew and loved. Only now she was blushing and giggling more often than threatening harm. And willingly sharing her snacks with an all too happy Michael. Your attention was rudely brought back to the eggs sizzling in the pan before you when Jae pushed at your temple firmly with his pointer finger.

“Stop staring. You’re going to burn my food.” When you cut your eyes at him he quickly rethought his choice of words with a goofy smile. “Our food.”

“I wasn’t staring.” you grumbled as you started to push the eggs around the greased pan.

Jae started to dig around in the fridge. “Were too. You have been since we got back.”

He strut back to you with a pouch in hand. Making breakfast together has become a part of your daily schedule. The morning after the two of you returned from the cabin Jae had barged in around 10 saying how he wanted to spend as much time with you as possible. Which looking back you realized could have very well been just a ploy to get a homemade breakfast without having to put in any effort. That day till today this sleepy little shit has sat there in his shorts and sleeveless white tee watching you make the food and occasionally getting ingredients for you. He handed you the pouch of shredded cheese before hopping back up onto the counter. You shook some cheese into the pan and turned the heat off before you responded, “It’s just so strange! I mean I kind of love it but it’s still so new. Were we like that?”

“Were you? You still are.”

You turned towards the voice and saw Michael and Krystal enter the kitchen hand in hand.

“Look at you. Making breakfast while he watches you adoringly. So domestic.” Krystal teased.

Jae smiled at her before pinching your cheek.

“He was probably looking at the eggs, babe. Have you seen that kid eat?” Michael grumbled as he slid down the wall to sit cross legged on the floor. One hand still wrapped up in Krystal pretty fingers.

“For your information,” Jae began with a haughty air, “I was looking at both.”

You slid the eggs from the pan onto a big plate as Jae grabbed two forks from the silverware drawer. By the time you turned to face the table he was already sat and waiting with a big smile.

You had to admit; it wasn’t the worst way to start your day.

——————————————

“Where’s Jae?” You asked Michael on your way to the kitchen cupboard. Your eyes scanned over the concerning amount of snack foods before deciding on a huge bag of chips and heading back to the living room. When you had left on this errand Jae was here with him. Michael was watching a movie alone hardly sparing you a glance until you threw a chip his way. “He’s upstairs. Been up there a while.”

Choosing to leave him to his movie you started up the stairs. You gave Jae’s door one quick knock before pushing your way into the small room and you froze for a moment when you saw Jae sitting on the floor surrounded by open suitcases. He gave you a small smile and a weak wave before turning back to the large pile of clothes you assumed he dumped out of his dresser. Simply pursing your lips in disappointment you strut over to sit next to him on the floor. He set a hand on your thigh in comfort before balling up a t-shirt and tossing it into the furthest suitcase. The clothes were everywhere and you found yourself wondering if he was just randomly throwing them into whatever suitcase he wanted. Setting your chips to the side you gave him what you hoped was an encouraging smile.

“So, you got a system here or are you just kinda throwing stuff in randomly?”

He gave you a coy smirk before sloppily folding some jeans and tossing them in the same suitcase from before. “There was a system when I sat down. But at this point it’s pretty much random. It’s mostly clothes so I figure they can go in whatever suitcase I want. Fill up one and move onto the next one.”

“Do you want help?”

“Not with this but I was going to ask you about helping me with something else, maybe?”

He set the shirt in his hands down with a heavy breath. “Would you drive me to the airport tomorrow morning?”

For the second time you froze. Simply staring before a mumbled “Oh.” broke your silence.

Jae’s brow furrowed in concern as your eyes fell. “I could ask Michael! I’ll just ask him don’t worry about it.”

After a second you took a deep breath and raised your gaze. “No. I’ll take you. At least that way I can say goodbye.”

“You sure?” his eyes were concerned with a twinge of sadness.

A determined nod and a small smile was your response. It would be sad but it was right. He was your boyfriend. You should give him a proper send off.

Doing your best to shake off the sadness swirling in the pit of your stomach you reached over and pulled the suitcase closer before dumping it out.

“Y/N! I just packed that one!”

You started rummaging through the different articles of clothing and folding whatever you could get your hands on. “That was not packing, Jae. You need to fold your clothes or you’re going to run out of room.”

After you had folded five shirts you looked over and saw Jae simply watching you work. Balling up the soft material in your hands you threw the shirt at his head. “I’m not going to do it all by myself. Start folding.”

Jae groaned before roughly folding a pair of pants. Grumbling under his breath, “Come in here and dump out my clothes…start bossing me around…like you own the place…”

He peeked at you out of the corner of his eye to make sure you were paying attention before looking back to the clothes and continuing his fake little tantrum. “I said I didn’t need help.”

You scoffed at his obvious play for attention and continued folding the clothes. “Oh, you definitely need help. That’s not even a question. Professional help.”

“Bullying. This is bullying.” he shot back.

“Hardly.” you looked over to find Jae with his hands hanging limply in the clothes pile and giving you a deadpan look. You couldn’t help but laugh as he gave you a leveled glare. “Keep folding please. Michael and Krystal wanna have a movie night since it’s your last night in the house.”

Jae started packing again; finally dropping his fake mad act and showcasing his usual smile. “What’re we watching?”

The packing went by quickly after that and soon enough the two of you are bouncing down the stairs. Michael has pushed all the furniture close together so the four of you could sit near each other. Everyone agreed to let Jae pick the movies and of course he chose a comedy to start things off. The house was filled with laughter until the late hours when the laughs shifted to soft snores as one by one the four of you fell asleep there in front of the television.

—————-

“Y/N slow down!”

You ignored the pleading voice and started handing the lady behind the counter the bags you were carrying. Jae finally caught up to you; out of breath and frazzled. You grabbed at the rest of his bags before he stepped around you to hand them over himself. He held onto his carry on bag and the two of you stepped away from the counter. You scanned the walls for a clock. 40 minutes. You had a little time. Reaching over to adjust the strap on his bag you gave him a stern look. “You shouldn’t have let me sleep we were almost late.”

Your scolding was met with a pair of innocent eyes and a goofy smile. “But you looked so cute drooling all over the arm of the couch. Plus we aren’t late. I have a great sense of time.”

“You think you have a great everything.”

Jae caught your hand and gave you a smirk. “I mean am I wrong? Now stop fretting. You’re making me nervous.”

You took a calming breath before checking the clock again. Meeting his gaze you squeezed his hand lightly. “So…this is it,” You pushed at his chest lightly. “And we have barely any time because you wanted to watch me drool like some kind of creep.”

His smile was soft and reassuring. “Forgive me if I wasn’t in a huge rush to leave.”

As emotions started flooding your body you felt the tell tale prickling in your eyes and started looking in random directions to try to hide your tears. Jae shook your arm once and gave you a bright smile. “No tears please. We’ve had like 3 sad goodbyes. No more tears.”

Despite your tumultuous emotions you laughed before wiping at the few tears that nearly fell. His smile fell away to make a stern face before he continued. “Don’t forget your mourning period.”

“Oh yeah what did we agree on? A year?” you mused with a smile.

“Two! September 2017! We agreed!”

“I still think that’s an absurd request. Two years. A lot happens in two years.”

Jae pulled you into a hug. “You know what else ends in two years? My dating ban. And besides the mourning period is for you. How incredibly awkward would it be if I come back and you’ve got some guy hanging around. It’ll hurt his feelings when you drop him like a sack of rocks for me.”

You snaked your arms around his waist. Laughing at the idea. “True.” For the hundredth time you checked the big clock above the counter. “Jae. You need to go. You still have to get through security and to your terminal.”

To your surprise Jae didn’t say anything. He squeezed you a little closer before releasing you with a sigh. His hands softly cupped your face before he kissed you in the middle of the lobby. There were no tears but the way his mouth desperately molded against your lips carried a sadness that left your eyes welling when he pulled away. He looked at you for another moment; eyes scanning over your features. With one last quick kiss he started walking backwards towards the security gates. “Terminal 3 right?”

“Terminal 5, Jae! It’s on your ticket!!”

He checked his ticket before giving you a bashful grin. “I knew that.”

Jae was still walking backwards and about 4 steps from crashing into a very cranky looking TSA agent. “Jae! Turn around!”

Turning just in time he nodded in apology and turned back to wave once more. “Two years, Y/N! Mourn me properly!”

You felt your face heat up as people started to stare at the two of you. “Just go before you miss your plane!”

Jae wiped a sleeve under his eyes. A sad smile on his face, “Bye, Y/N!”

As the tears finally pooled you waved from your spot until he walked through the security gate and out of sight. You managed to keep the tears from falling all this time but the second he disappeared into the airport they spilt over leaving trails of water down your face. Warm arms wrapped around your shoulders from behind.

“Come on, Y/N. Let’s go home.” Krystal spoke in a soothing voice. The two of you walked out of the doors and back to your car. You knew that it was the most realistic option but as Krystal drove back to the house you couldn’t help but wish that you’d given long distance a chance.

You told yourself that walking passed that empty door would get easier and eventually thinking of Jae would become a fond memory…not something that only stirred up regret.

And it did.

* * *

 

**2 years and one month**

“Krystal! When is Kevin getting home?” You hollered from the couch.

Her voice sounded from one of the rooms down the hall. “I’m not sure. Probably soon. Why? Miss him already?”

Before you could make any kind of response your phone vibrated in your hand. Unknown number. Odd.

“Hey Krystal. Did you give someone my number? And if you did what does this even mean?”

Kevin walked through the door just then. Spotting you and flashing a smile your way.

“Kevin, did you change your number?”

His face twisted in confusion at the odd question. “No? Not for like 4 years.” He finished with a chuckle. Your phone buzzed again.

“No freaking way.”

Kevin watched with concern as your face went completely blank. A string of “No way. No way. No way.” tumbling from your lips.

Krystal walked into the living room. Out of the corner of your eye you saw her stop mid stride and stare out the window. “Uh… Rachel?” Your newest roommate quickly hopped out of your way as you shot off the couch like a bat out of hell and ran to the window.

And there on the sidewalk stood a tall string bean of a man. When he caught sight of you in the window he flashed you that million watt smile that you’d missed every day for two years. 

You yanked the window open and cupped your hands around your mouth. “I thought I told you not to use that smile before 10 o’clock!!”

Jae’s smile only got bigger and brighter before he yelled across the yard. “You don’t control me, woman!”

“IS THAT JAE?!” You heard a man screech from the kitchen seconds before Michael squeezed himself in the tiny window with you. “Jae! You came back for me!” He hollered with a dramatic flair. 

“I most certainly did not!” He shot back from his place on the sidewalk. 

Krystal walked over to open the door before joining in the screaming. “How about you come inside before someone calls the cops!!” 

Jae came inside and was immediately smothered with hugs and kisses. Most of the kisses from Michael. When Jae was given room to breathe he finally spotted the shy man standing next to the couch; watching the scene awkwardly. You followed his line of sight and started laughing. “Jae, this is Kevin. He’s our new roommate. He’s in your room.” 

Kevin smiled shyly and reached out a hand. “Hello. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Jae gave you a look that carried a question. “Not me. Michael.” Jae peered down at the grown man still attached to his side. Michael only stared back like a love struck teenager. 

“He doesn’t even look at me like that.” Krystal grumbled. “So, what’s going on? Are you staying for long?” 

“A few months. I was hoping to stay here actually…” He murmured; giving Kevin another weary look. 

“You could always stay in Y/N’s room. Lord knows she’s been waiting for you to come back. I tried setting her up like 9 times. She always found something wrong-” Krystal smacked him on the back of the head before dragging him back to their rooms. Kevin quickly picked up the vibe and excused himself to his room. After the two of you were left alone Jae turned to you with a smile. “So.”

Under his gaze you immediately started to blush. The implications of Michael’s words hanging between you. 

He smirked as he watched the pink spread across your cheeks. “I understand turning down Michael’s friends. I mean after dating me they must seem just terrible in compa–” 

You cut him off before he could get into another long boastful speech by pulling him into a crushing hug. Which he returned with a deep rumbling laugh that you could feel in his chest. He was back. Not for forever but your time apart had taught you that long distance was better than complete absence.

You’d rather see that smile through a laptop camera then not at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to thank everyone for sticking with me with this story. I got really forgetful with the updates and I'm so glad people still cares enough to check in. I've got some more stuff coming! Right now none of it is Jae stuff but I hope you'll still give it a shot! Love you guys!


End file.
